Mick Jones, Dennis Elliott Won’t Be at Foreigner Rock Hall Induction

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The cover of Foreigner’s 1977 debut album

After more than two decades of eligibility, Foreigner was finally nominated—and selected—for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. But when it’s time for the band—known for such Top 10 hits as “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”—to take the stage to accept their long overdue honor this Saturday, October 19, they’ll be without their leader Mick Jones and original drummer Dennis Elliott.

The 74 year-old, London-born Elliott announced today (Oct. 17) that he won’t be attending. In a brief statement on his Facebook page, Elliott wrote:

“Dear Foreigner Fans & Friends,
Don’t look too hard, we will not be there.
We were finally given the schedule last night, and it is not to our satisfaction. So we are staying home. We have been asking for this for weeks, and they have waited until the very last minute to send it knowing we were all packed and going to bed. Totally unacceptable to us.
Hope you have a good time.”

The drummer was to be joined by his wife of 52 years, Iona Elliott.

Hours after Elliott revealed that he wouldn’t be attending, this announcement appeared on Foreigner’s official Facebook page: “Foreigner is greatly looking forward to Saturday’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The band will be joined by Demi Lovato, Sammy Hagar, and Kelly Clarkson in a set celebrating the induction of the guys who started it all almost fifty years ago. Original members Lou Gramm, Al Greenwood, and Rick Wills will be there to accept the awards on behalf of the band’s leader and founder Mick Jones and Dennis Elliot along those of Ian McDonald and Ed Gagliardi who passed away some years ago.”

On Feb. 21, Jones revealed that he has been battling Parkinson’s disease.

This isn’t the first time that the Rock Hall has courted controversy with the artists that are being honored. In 2016, at the official press conference following his performance at his own induction, Steve Miller went on a rant about the hall. “They need to get the legal work straight. They need to respect the artists who they say they’re honoring. I don’t have any of my paperwork signed. No licensing agreements with these people. They’re trying to steal footage. They’re trying to make me indemnify them.

“When they told me I was inducted they said, ‘You have two tickets — one for your wife and one for yourself. Want another one? It’s $10,000. Sorry, that’s the way it goes,’” he added. “What about my band? What about their wives? They [the Rock Hall] makes this so unpleasant.”

The Rock Hall announced its Class of 2024 on April 21. The inductees were led by Peter Frampton and Foreigner, who have been overlooked for decades. They’ll be joined by Ozzy Osbourne, the Dave Matthews Band, Cher, Kool & the Gang, A Tribe Called Quest, and Mary J. Blige. Jimmy Buffett, who was not on the ballot, was selected for Musical Excellence, along with Dionne Warwick, MC5, and Norman Whitfield. The Musical Influence honorees are British blues rock legend John Mayall, as well as Alexis Korner, another British blues musician, and blues singer Big Mama Thornton—the first to record “Hound Dog.” The Ahmet Ertegun Award went to industry executive Suzanne de Passe.

The members of Foreigner chosen for induction are Lou Gramm, Jones, Elliott, Ed Gagliardi, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald, and Rick Wills. A 2024 hits collection, Turning Back the Time, is available here.

The Oct. 19 induction ceremony, at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, will be streamed live on Disney+ with coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET.