Johnny Edwards

Who is Johnny Edwards?

Johnny Edwards is a singer who sang for the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, King Kobra, Wild Horses, Northrup, Royal Jelly and is most famously known as the second lead vocalist of the rock band Foreigner. Edwards left Wild Horses before they recorded their first album Bareback to join Foreigner.

As commonly reported in many interviews, Mick Jones, the founding member, lead guitarist, and main songwriter of Foreigner was at home recovering from having the flu. Mick was in the process of listening to audition tapes of various singers to replace the newly departed Lou Gramm when he came upon a cassette of Johnny Edwards. Upon hearing the demo tape, Mick immediately jumped out of bed and shouted out, "This is it!", referring to Edwards' voice as the perfect replacement for Lou. Released on June 17, 1991, Foreigner's new album, Unusual Heat had 11 songs in total, and 10 of these were the combination of mainstay Mick, Johnny and co-producer, Terry Thomas, who had previously worked with Bad Company's lead vocalist, Brian Howe, on their last 3 albums as producer and songwriter.

In addition to providing lead vocals, Edwards was also an accomplished guitarist who not only added rhythm guitar but also played the lead guitar in the song "Mountain of Love", the fifth track on the Unusual Heat album. The Billboard 200 documented Unusual Heat at #117 on August 3, 1991. The album's first single, "Lowdown and Dirty" was included on the band's Rhino double-CD retrospective Juke Box Heroes. Although Edwards received some critical acclaim for his live performances and vocal style, Unusual Heat was a commercial failure, and Lou Gramm returned the following year, effectively ending Edwards' tenure as Foreigner's front-man. In 1992, The Reunited Gramm & Foreigner Founder, Mick Jones released ' The Very Best & Beyond ' with three new songs. 1 of the tracks " With Heaven On Our Side" was co-written by Johnny Edwards. who departed earlier that year after a two year reign as lead singer.