Cherokee – Legendary arena rock band Foreigner brings their signature sound to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for a show featuring the Asheville Choral Society Choir.
With a career spanning more than 50 years, the band, although with some different personnel, keeps their hard-charging rock anthems going on their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Celebration and Farewell tour, with dates scheduled through 2026.
‘Blue Morning, Blue Day’
Keyboardist Michael Bluestein, whose tenure with the band began in 2008, said the band is solid as ever on this tour, even though longtime founding members front man Lou Gramm and guitarist Mick Jones haven’t toured with the band for several years.
“Mick is still considered with the band, but hasn’t toured regularly for several years now on account of his Parkinson’s diagnosis, but Lou was able to play our entire South American tour for all three weeks in May,” Bluestein added.
The group has also lost founding members Ian McDonald, a founder of King Crimson, and original bassist Ed Gagliardi in 2022 and 2014, respectively. The band formed with other founders, drummer Dennis Elliott and keyboardist Al Greenwood. With Jones, McDonald and Elliott all being British and the other three members American, the name Foreigner was decided on because when they were in either nation, one half would be considered “foreigners.”
Bluestein’s own work with the group grew from his friendship with then-keyboardist Paul Mirkovich, who would be leaving the group soon to become musical director with NBC’s The Voice, so “it was serendipity that Paul recommended me, and that I started playing with them.”
As many ensemble bands from the 1970s have periodically changed personnel to stay relevant, Foreigner’s strength has come from identifying key musicians to fill gaps in the roster and Bluestein’s pedigree fits the bill for the band’s reliance on a heavily keyboard influenced string of hits, including “Cold As Ice” and “Waiting For A Girl Like You.”
A student of classical music and graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Bluestein has worked with some of the biggest names in American music – including Burt Bacharach, Stevie Nicks and Boz Scaggs – throughout his career. Providing keyboards and backing vocals for Foreigner was kind of an evolution for him and his self-described Generation X tastes in music.
“You know them for their songs, moody, soulful and fist-pumping rock anthems and now I’m a part of these songs.”
While Bluestein had to step away from the band during his own cancer battle in 2012, the band has also managed to periodically attract such other storied musicians as Jason Bonham, son of legendary drummer John Bonham, as drummer for a period, as well as current lead singer Kelly Hansen, of the 1980s band Hurricane, along with noted guitarist Bruce Watson, who toured with the likes of legendary BB King.
Bluestein says this tour is also a bit bittersweet since the “Farewell” portion is for departing lead vocalist Hansen, who leaves the band in October after 20 years.
“While we’re sad to see Kelly go, it’s a smooth transition and we’re working with our lead guitarist, Luis Maldonado, who’s stepping in that role. Overall, we still have dates booked into 2026, so we celebrate the induction and we celebrate Kelly’s time with us.”
Hansen’s time with the band began in 2004, when Jones was looking to reform the band after an extensive break from performing and touring and recouping from a series of tensions plaguing the band.
‘I Want To Know What Love Is’
While the band is known for a variety of hits, it’s the singular tender anthem, one of the first power ballads, “I Want To Know What Love Is” that became a staple of MTV rotation and provided a softer side to the hard-driving singles “Dirty White Boy” and “Hot Blooded.”
Bluestein says during this concert the Asheville Chorale Society Choir will join the band live onstage to accompany with this well-known hit, which will also allow the band to present a $500 donation for the choir’s various programs.
“We’ve been integrating choirs in our performances since at least the time I joined the band. It serves as part of our ongoing campaign to showcase the importance of music and music education in schools.”
“We work with a lot of middle and high school choirs and they get the chance to come up and sing ‘I Want To Know’ and the parents are there and it gives them a chance to see how important these programs are for their children, how proud it makes them all. Too, there are so many studies about how music is integral for the brain’s development, plus it’s a great hobby and it makes for well-rounded human beings with interests in the arts.”
Bluestein also reminisces about his own time in school programs and how that contributed to his love and study of music which he then fashioned into his career.
‘Juke Box Heroes’
While the band may seemingly only be pigeonholed into the late 1970s or early 1980s in terms of their catalog, the songs have transcended their legacy to remain relevant in the digital age with both YouTube views and Spotify plays in the millions and with the stardom-seeking song “Juke Box Hero” being used in a variety of video games throughout the 1990s.
The band’s song “Feels Like The First Time” was also featured in the breakout 2017 hit movie I, Tonya, memorably used in the quasi-biographical scene of ice skating’s Tonya Harding’s famous landing of her triple axel.
Bluestein said in a time where there’s so much “super-produced pop music in the landscape, these well-crafted songs continue to resonate with kids when they hear them. Real music, played by real people on real instruments and not perfectly sanitized, it’s good to know that means something still today.”
Bluestein also lauds new lead singer Maldonado, saying, “Luis opens our repertoire to our Spanish-speaking fans and he’s already done “I Want To Know What Love Is” as a Spanish language single available on YouTube and our website. We’re looking forward to his energy and to a long future with him.”
With a relentless touring schedule for these many years, Bluestein says the band still plays a variety of venues, from amphitheaters and performance arts centers to the large arenas and state fairs, so they see a wide variety of Foreigner fans who still want to hear the band’s classic repertoire, kept alive by the nationwide classic rock format and their frequent touring with other notable acts such as Cheap Trick and Styx.
Even in the midst of change, the band provides a lineup that includes bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Chris Frazier. Pilson celebrated his 20th year with the band in 2024, while Frazier joined in 2012.
Bluestein added that Foreigner’s range can be seen in this weekend’s show with all the mainstays being played for fans of all the band’s eras.
“It’ll feel just like the very first time,” he said.
Details: Visit caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee/shows and foreigneronline.com.