BILLY JOEL / FOREIGNER YEARS
Foreigner are a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones, ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. Foreigner have sold more than 70 million albums worldwide (including over 37.5 million in the United States alone).
The band went through multiple personell changes, all around the song writing duo of Jones and Gramm over the years.
For their 1991 tour, Jeff Jacobs, who'd played in Billy Joel's band, was brought in as the new keyboardist. Jeff, having met and worked with Mick Jones who had produced Joel's latest effort [while Jacob's was recording and touring with him], made a fast impression on Mick who was quoted as saying "If he's good enough for the piano man, then there is no doubt in my mind".
Jeff went on to perform on some of Foreigner's most renowned LIVE DVD performances; 2003's "LIVE at Deer Creek" [with legendary vocalist Lou Gramm] all the way to 2007's "Alive & Rockin'" [with Kelly Hansen on lead vocal].
In 2001 the Warner Music Group selected Foreigner and 4 to be among the first group of albums from their catalog to be remastered, enhanced and released in the new DVD Audio format. In 2002 the 25th Anniversary Year brought affirmation of the enduring respect for Foreigner recordings with Rhino Entertainment re-issuing the 1977-1981 multi-platinum albums in special enhanced formats. Foreigner, Double Vision, Head Games and 4 received the attention of Rhino's staff with new photos, liner notes and bonus tracks of previously unreleased material. New greatest hits albums were also produced in the U.S. and in Europe. The U.S. version reached No. 80 on the Billboard 200 Album chart.
In late 2002 Foreigner played in the Netherlands at the annual Night of the Proms festival. It was the last time to date that Gramm and Jones played together. Gramm would leave the group in 2003. Jones stated that he and Gramm split because they weren't communicating: "I think we really tried hard to save it, but it got to the point when we both realized that to go on would be detrimental for both of us."
Jones, the founder and only remaining original member of Foreigner, decided to take some time off before looking to form a new lineup in 2004. On July 25, 2004, in Santa Barbara, California at Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort, Jones appeared with a brand new version of Foreigner that included: Jeff Jacobs, Thom Gimbel, former Dokken bass player Jeff Pilson, current UFO drummer Jason Bonham (son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who had also played with the brief Led Zeppelin reunions and his own band Bonham) and Bonham singer Chaz West. West was hired for that show only and was eventually replaced by former Hurricane singer Kelly Hansen in 2005.
Foreigner joined Def Leppard along with Styx on tour in 2007. They also toured extensively in their own right in 2007 - the thirtieth anniversary of the release of their debut.
Their 2005 BMG album, Extended Versions, featured the new line-up playing all their classic hits live in concert in one of the most "studio like, clean sounding" live album recordings produced.
In 2007, Jeff left the band to pursue writing and his production company "Big Dog Bites Music"
BILLY JOEL / FOREIGNER YEARS
Jeff's Latest Solo
CD release:
"All Blue To Me"
FOREIGNER - Jeff Jacobs – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (1991–2007)
Joel also revamped his backing band, firing everyone, save drummer Liberty DeVitto, guitarist David Brown, and saxophone player Mark Rivera, bringing in new faces, keyboardist Jeff Jacobs and also talented female multi-instrumentalist Crystal Taliefero. Storm Front's second single, "I Go to Extremes" made it to #6 in early 1990. The album was also notable for its song "Leningrad", written after Joel met a clown in the Soviet city of that name during his tour in 1987, and "The Downeaster Alexa", written to underscore the plight of fishermen on Long Island who are barely able to make ends meet. Another well-known single from the album is the ballad "And So It Goes" (#37 in late 1990). The song was originally written in 1983, around the time Joel was writing songs for An Innocent Man; but "And So It Goes" did not fit that album's retro theme, so it was held back until Storm Front.
Jeff toured with Billy on the ensuing "Storm Front" tour, and after traveling the world and performing in the largest venues in every city, Jeff got the call from Mick Jones of Foreigner.
BILLY JOEL - Jeff Jacobs – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (1989 -1991)
William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA.
Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote singlehandedly. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and has sold over 150 million records worldwide. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006) and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame (2009). Joel "retired" from recording pop music in 1993 but continues to tour (often with Elton John).
In early spring 1989, Jeff Jacobs joins the Billy Joel band for the "Storm Front" album. The first single for the album "We Didn't Start the Fire", was released in September 1989 and Jeff's keyboards can be heard in the opening riff of the hit song. It became Joel's third and most recent US #1 hit, spending two weeks at the top; it was also Billboard's second-last #1 single of the 1980s. Storm Front was released in October, and it eventually became Joel's first #1 album since Glass Houses, nine years earlier. Storm Front was Joel's first album since Turnstiles to be recorded without Phil Ramone as producer. For this album, he wanted a new sound, and worked with Mick Jones of Foreigner fame.
