Mick Jones

The creative force behind platinum-selling hard rock combo <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a>, English guitarist/composer <a href="spotify:artist:6QFIIkwi4R2erQsIp0TDSb">Mick Jones</a> was born on December 27, 1944 in Portsmouth. He first earned notice during the early '60s as a member of <a href="spotify:artist:5LyosPQrMqClLbNZGq9cie">Nero</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3L5iYAziSDnuaHsSgbkcIP">the Gladiators</a>, best remembered for their hits "Hall of the Mountain King" and "Entry of the Gladiators." Spending much of the decade to come as a songwriter and session player, in 1970 he joined ex-<a href="spotify:artist:5YE3Wwk5wqQmFXM5qyaM6u">Spooky Tooth</a> singer <a href="spotify:artist:3z6Uf5IZkN4TogRpRpgD84">Gary Wright</a> in <a href="spotify:artist:2lGM6kmV3BRaV63ik1p0nF">Wonderwheel</a>. Three years later, the twosome reformed <a href="spotify:artist:5YE3Wwk5wqQmFXM5qyaM6u">Spooky Tooth</a> before Jones relocated to New York City to work in A&R. After a stint with the Leslie West Band, he formed <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a> in 1976 with multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, tapping ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0NnCgUxhtWt1yBtpDyvFQf">Black Sheep</a> frontman <a href="spotify:artist:7CnmC3gRgLev4I609BrSxj">Lou Gramm</a> to assume vocal duties; Jones and <a href="spotify:artist:7rJ3Myc4crprUmH9vfOzLY">Gramm</a> also began collaborating on songs, co-authoring the smash "Cold as Ice" from the band's best-selling 1977 eponymous debut LP. <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a> proved inescapable in the years to follow, reeling off an impressive series of pop radio hits including "Hot Blooded," "Double Vision," "Urgent," "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and the chart-topping power ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is." While on hiatus from the group in 1986, Jones produced <a href="spotify:artist:2cnMpRsOVqtPMfq7YiFE6K">Van Halen</a>'s blockbuster 5150, three years later helming <a href="spotify:artist:6zFYqv1mOsgBRQbae3JJ9e">Billy Joel</a>'s Storm Front; Joel returned the favor, producing Jones' own 1989 self-titled solo debut. Despite losing <a href="spotify:artist:7rJ3Myc4crprUmH9vfOzLY">Gramm</a> to a solo career, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a> returned in 1991 with Unusual Heat; <a href="spotify:artist:7rJ3Myc4crprUmH9vfOzLY">Gramm</a> returned to the fold for 1993's Mr. Moonlight. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi