Who is Kelly Hansen?
Kelly Hansen was born under the zodiac sign of Aries on the 18th April 1961, in Hawthorne, California, USA, and is an American musician, probably best known for being the frontman of the British-American rock band Foreigner. Additionally, he is widely recognized as the founding member of an American hard rock band Hurricane, as well as a former member of rock bands such as Unruly Child and Perfect World.
Music Career
Kelly Hansen‘s career in the music industry began in the early 1980s, starting as an independent studio singer.
In 1983, he teamed up with drummer Jay Schellen, guitarist Robert Sarzo and bass guitarist Tony Cavazo, who are younger brothers of famous rock musicians Quiet Riot’s members Rudy Sarzo and Carlos Cavazo respectively, and founded the hard-rock/heavy metal band named Hurricane. Initially failing to attract major labels, in 1985 the band independently released their debut album entitled “Take What You Want”. After excessive touring on their own, as well as after serving as the opening act for Stryper on their ‘To Hell with the Devil’ tour in 1986 and 1987, Hurricane ‘caught an ear’ of the Enigma Records label and landed a record deal.
The band’s debut studio album entitled “Over the Edge” was released in 1988, and peaked at No. 92 on the Billboard US Album charts, as well as producing hit singles such as “Over the Edge” and “I’m on to You”, which peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. In 1990, Hurricane released another studio album – “Slave to the Thrill” – which produced two singles, “Dance Little Sister” and “Next To You”. Although characterized as the band’s most ‘focused’ release, it failed to achieve real commercial success, which led the band mates to part ways in 1991.
Hansen then went on to perform as a session singer, and guest starred on various projects, teaming up with a variety of artists including names such as Don Dokken and Fergie Fredriksen, as well as bands Slash’s Snakepit and Bourgeois Pigs. During the mid-1990s, Kelly served as a frontman of Air Pavillion with which he released two studio albums – “Sarrph Cogh” in 1994 and “The River / The Life” in 1999. Then in 1998 Kelly joined the crew of Unruly Child, replacing their frontman Mark Free, soon after which the band released the album “Waiting for the Sun”.
Later that year, he could be heard on Stuart Smith’s “Heaven and Earth” studio album.
In the early 2000s, Hansen teamed up with Tim Donahue with whom he released the studio album entitled “Into the Light”. In 2001, alongside original member Jay Schellen as well as bassist Larry Antonino and guitarist Sean Manning, Kelly resurrected Hurricane, and soon after, almost 11 years since the third one, the band released their fourth and final studio album named “Liquifury”.
Two years later, in 2003, Hansen teamed up with bassist Fabrizio V.Zee Grossi, guitarists JM Scattolin and Alex De Rosso, pianist Adam Forgione and drummer Biggs Brice and founded the hard rock band Perfect World. Their only release, simply named “Perfect World” hit the charts later that year, being released by the Frontier Records label.
In March 2005, Kelly Hansen teamed up with Mick Jones and joined his rock band Foreigner. Debuting as the band’s third lead vocalist in November that year, he performed on the live album entitled “Extended Versions”.
After touring extensively through 2007, in mid-2008 they released their greatest hits anthology album entitled “No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner” – in addition to including all the hit singes from the 1980s and 1990s, it contains the hit single “Too Late” which was released in June 2008. In 2009, Foreigner released another studio album – “Can’t Slow Down” – which peaked at No. 29 of the Billboard 200 chart, and produced two singles “In Pieces” and “When It Comes to Love”.
Following this commercial success, in the following year of 2010, the band was honored with the Independent Music Companies Association’s gold certification for selling over 100,000 copies in Europe alone.
In 2011, Foreigner released the second edition of their greatest hits named “Extended Versions II”, as well as “Acoustique”, a studio album of their greatest hits ‘stripped-down’ into acoustic mode. In the following years, Kelly and his band mates toured through small clubs and venues all over the States, before returning to the studio and releasing their latest album, symbolically entitled “40: Forty Hits From Forty Years 1977-2017 ” which hit the charts in 2017.
Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the band’s Juke Box Heroes tour has been postponed to 2021.
Apart from all the abovementioned, Kelly is also a passionate ‘student of food’, and in August 2015 he appeared in the ‘Rock Stars’ episode of the Food Networks’ cooking competition reality show “Chopped“, having previously taken part in cooking shows such as “The Asphalt Chef” and “The Chew” in 2010.
Net Worth
Have you ever wondered how much wealth this 59-year-old American rock musician has accumulated so far? According to authoritative sources, Kelly Hansen’s net worth, as of mid-2020, is around the sum of $3 million, acquired mostly through his nearly 40-years-long career in the world of rock music.