A rock star born and raised in Rochester will be among the elite musicians honored this weekend at the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Rochester’s rock legend Lou Gramm and his band Foreigner are going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Saturday evening. Gramm says he’s ready for the honor after decades of rocking out.

The composer and performer of 20 Top 40 singles is now officially becoming part of a group of artists described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as having created music whose originality, impact and influence changed the course of rock and roll. 

Gramm describes his thoughts when he heard the news.

“I paused, and I sat down, and I thought to myself, I didn’t think this was ever going to happen,” he said.

The nomination and induction into rock's hall of fame may be long overdue, but well deserved.

Gramm and his band Foreigner remain one of the best-selling rock bands of all time, with worldwide sales topping 80 million records, including hits like “Cold As Ice,” “Double Vision” and “Head Games.”

“We had incredible record sales, we have one less Top 20 single than the Beatles," said Gramm. "That’s a lot of hits."

Much of his music was inspired by where Gramm grew up in Rochester, including the mega-hit “Juke Box Hero,” including the lyrics, “Standing in the rain with his head hung low, he couldn’t get a ticket, it was a sold-out show.”

“It was self-auto biographical initially. The creative spark of the song was me singing about myself,” said Gramm. “And that was me in the rain. It was Hendrix playing at the War Memorial.”

The song continues, “In a town without a name, it was a heavy downpour, but he cast his own shadow by the backstage door,” referring to the backstage door of Rochester’s War Memorial.

“Put my ear to the wall and like a distant scream,” say the lyrics.

“That’s Hendrix guitar, the distant scream, I heard one guitar, you know,” said Gramm.

And the song goes on, “Like a trip through the past, that day in the rain, that one guitar, made his whole life change.”

And that it did. His whole life changed, becoming one of the most talented performers to grace Rochester and the worldwide stage.

Starting out as a drummer at 8 years old, taking inspiration from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Gramm was part of the band Black Sheep before forming the band Foreigner with guitarist Mick Jones.

He was sidelined for a time when doctors told him he would not survive a brain tumor at the age of 47, until a newly tried and tested laser surgery and surgeon saved him.

Inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2013, he now pays it forward in Rochester helping charities and with his foundation providing financial assistance to young aspiring musicians.

“Having grown up here, I have lived and witnessed young musicians with incredible potential who don’t have the money for a decent instrument who can’t further their life in music because they can’t afford lessons,” said Gramm.

With a legacy that spans more than five decades in the rock world, the 74 year old will give a speech when he receives his award. Gramm describes his message to the Hall of Fame and to his many fans and supporters back home in Rochester and around world.

“I think the message would be that they’ve all seen my slow rise to musical success and growing as an artist and a songwriter. They’ve seen my ups and downs throughout the years of drug and alcohol addiction and my surgery. And now here it is 50 years after Foreigner began and I’m at peace and I still love to perform, but I can see the finish line in the distance and I’m looking forward to that too,” Gramm said.

For Lou, his time has come to be honored and maybe to settle down.