From Rock-Loving Kid in Mexico to Lead Singer of Foreigner: This is Luis Maldonado
Categoria: Musica
"That's kind of what made me obsessed with music," the Nogales, Sonora-born singer says of the legendary classic rock band's sound.
Por Billboard | 24/07/2026
Luis Maldonado remembers being about 5 years old when he listened for the first time to a Foreigner song. It was the late ’70s in Mexico, in the border city of Nogales, Sonora, where he could dial the family’s radio into the rock stations in Arizona. “It was ‘Feels Like the First Time,’ and I just remember hearing all those sounds, you know, the keyboards, the big guitars — I’m like, ‘Wow, listen to that sound!’ That’s kind of what made me obsessed with music,” he tells Billboard Español . Little did he know that, decades later, he would end up fronting the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer band. Related Foreigner’s Mick Jones Strikes Catalog Deal With Primary Wave Before ‘Hanging Up the Microphone,’ Lou Gramm Talks Final Solo Album & Foreigner’s Future Foreigner at 50: How They’re Celebrating & What’s Next for the Band Born in Nogales and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Maldonado immigrated to the United States shortly after with his family, where his father — an electronic engineer — found a job in the semiconductor industry. But music was always part of the household: His grandfather was a violin player and an orchestra conductor; his dad also sang and played guitar. Watching Maldonado perform with Foreigner is an electrifying experience. Perfectly in sync, band and frontman sound and feel as though they’ve been together from the very beginning, despite the many lineup changes over the years. Today, Mick Jones is the only founding member remaining (although he cannot longer tour), with original singer Lou Gramm — who said earlier this month he plans to retire from live performance by the end of 2026 — joining them onstage on selected dates of their ongoing 50th Anniversary Tour. But Maldonado, a natural-born rock star with countless charisma and the vocal range to hit the signature high notes made famous by Gramm and his successor Kelly Hansen in timeless songs like “Juke Box Hero” and “Cold as Ice,” was not always a singer. At age 7, the middle of three brothers picked up the guitar, moving later to upright bass, drums, piano, flute and cello. “I grew up in the orchestra,” he explains, “I wanted everything to do with anything that made sound”. It wasn’t until his teenage years, when he joined his older brother’s band, that he became a vocalist. “I was like 14 or so, we were recording some songs and my brother David goes, ‘Here, you’re going to sing this because you have a good voice,'” he recalls. “I’m like, ‘But I’m not a singer!” I sang the song, and he goes, ‘OK, you’re gonna be the singer in the band.’ I was like, ‘OK’ — so I studied voice, and I sang for a long time.” Eventually relocating to California, he formed his own band as a singer and guitar play