Foreigner Earns RIAA Gold for "Playlist: The Very Best Of Foreigner"

The English-American rock band Foreigner has added another accolade to its decorated career, as the group's 2018 compilation album, Playlist: The Very Best Of Foreigner, was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 6, 2025. The certification recognizes 500,000 units in sales and streaming equivalents in the United States. The album, released on October 26, 2018, via Legacy Recordings, gathers some of the band's most enduring hits from their multi-decade career, underscoring their continued relevance and commercial power.

Foreigner was formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran English musician and songwriter Mick Jones, fellow Englishman and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, and American vocalist Lou Gramm. The band achieved immediate success with their self-titled debut album in 1977, which went five-times platinum and produced the hit singles "Feels Like the First Time" and "Cold as Ice." This success was followed by a string of hit albums, including Double Vision (1978), Head Games (1979), and the massive seller 4 (1981), which included classics like "Urgent," "Jukebox Hero," and "Waiting for a Girl Like You." The band's biggest single, the 1984 power ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is," topped both U.S. and U.K. charts. To date, Foreigner has sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

After a hiatus, Jones reformed the band in the early 2000s, with lead singer Kelly Hansen joining in 2005 to help usher in a new era for the group. Hansen has been credited with leading Foreigner into the digital age and connecting with a new generation of fans. The band's lasting appeal is evident in its streaming metrics, which include nearly 19.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, over 4.1 billion lifetime streams on Pandora, and more than 735 million total views on YouTube. The Gold certification for Playlist: The Very Best Of Foreigner further solidifies the legendary band's steady and enduring presence in the landscape of classic rock.