Legendary Foreigner joined by local school in Missoula concert
William Munoz
(Missoula Current) Formed in 1976, the six members of Foreigner released their debut album in 1977, and what a time. They would go on to become one of the best selling bands of the rock era with over 80 millions records sold.
Foreigner is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. They are out on a Farewell Tour that began in 2023 and will go into at least June 2025.
Mick Jones being the last original member still with the band but because of his having Parkinson's disease does not tour. The current lineup is fronted by Kelly Hansen, who joined the band in 2005.
Foreigner reaches out to local schools in the cities they have concerts to get a middle or high school choir to join them on stage for a song. When this song first came out it featured the New Jersey Mass Choir backing up the band (They appear in the official video released that year. The next year there is a video of the band performing at the 1985 Farm Aid concert with a choir).
Together, they seek out local choirs to join them in their live concerts. The performance at the Adams Center featured the Meadow Hill Middle School choir under the direction of Alicia Bullock-Muth. They sang during the encore when the band played their first and only number 1 song, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
This is something the band does at their concerts as a way of generating awareness to the importance of the arts in particular music in the schools. Hansen from the stage implored the audience to go to the school administrators, local politicians and leaders to increase the funding for the arts in schools.
The evidence is overwhelming that arts like music when in the lives of students increases math skills. Bullock-Muth received an email from the band asking if her choir was interested in submitting a video of them singing the song. They were excited by this and did produce a video.
Meadow Hill Middle School, along with other choirs in the Missoula area, submitted sample videos. From this they were selected by Foreigner to perform with them at the concert. This effort by Foreigner is important for the future of the lives of these students who will soon be the leaders of society.