Foreigner “Juke Box Hero” released

Juke Box Hero Foreigner

Writer(s): Lou Gramm, Mick Jones (see lyrics here) Released: October 2, 1981 First Charted: July 25, 1981 Peak: 26 US, 34 CB, 23 HR, 2 CL, 3 AR, 48 UK, 39 CN, 53 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 33.0 video, 139.6 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Juke Box Hero” has an interesting chart history. It first entered Billboard’s album-rock chart in July 1981 soon after the Foreigner 4 album was released. However, it wasn’t released as a single until October – and then in the UK. In the United States, the song wasn’t released as a single until January 1982, the third single from the 4 album. The song, which Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw ranks as Foreigner’s all-time greatest song, WK is about a boy who can’t buy a ticket for a sold-out concert. While listening from outside the venue, he is inspired to buy a guitar and learn to play. This ignites his dream of musical stardom, but then he struggles to stay atop the charts as a “Juke Box Hero.” Outside the stage door at one of his concerts, he meets a fan who reminds him of himself and his own beginnings. WK Foreigner guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones said it was inspired by a real-life incident. He recalled going to an arena, he thought in Cincinnati, for a sound check. There were a bunch of fans waiting at the door when they arrived, but just one – waiting in the rain – when they came back for the show some five hours later. They took him backstage “And this kid was just mesmerized with everything…I just imagined what was going through his mind. And I’'d been toying with this title, ‘Juke Box Hero,’ I thought it was almost a satire on what we did and how it was perceived from an audience level.” SF Lou Gramm has said this is one of his favorite songs to perform, but also the hardest to sing live. SF Gramm, who had been a drummer before he became a singer, says he starts with the beat when writing songs. The “menacing beat” which opens “Juke Box Hero” and “builds to combustion is his influence.” SF Gramm had originally been working on a song called “Take One Guitar” and it was combined with the portion of “Juke Box Hero” which Jones had developed. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Foreigner SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/9/2022; last updated 7/24/2022.