Juke Box Hero

{{Infobox song

| name = Juke Box Hero

| cover = JukeBoxHeroForeignerWin.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| album = 4

| B-side = I'm Gonna Win

| released = October 2, 1981 (UK){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Foreigner&titel=Juke+Box+Hero&cat=s|title=Foreigner singles}}

January 27, 1982 (US){{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=foreigner#search_section|title=RIAA certifications for Foreigner|website=Recording Industry Association of America }}

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

Hard rock
arena rock{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is|website= Stereogum |date= 18 September 2020 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2098428/the-number-ones-foreigners-i-want-to-know-what-love-is/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= Foreigner’s sound was a big, loud, unashamed take on ’70s arena-rock...[the band's] style could get exhausting at album length, but it made for some fun singles. (I’m especially fond of 1981’s cinematic, proudly ridiculous “Juke Box Hero"...)|accessdate= 30 July 2023}}

| length = 4:18 (album version)
4:05 (single version)

| label = Atlantic

| writer = {{hlist|Lou Gramm|Mick Jones}}

| producer = Robert John "Mutt" Lange

| prev_title = Waiting for a Girl Like You

| prev_year = 1981

| next_title = Break It Up

| next_year = 1982

| misc = {{External music video|

{{YouTube|Ic02W1bWeFU|"Juke Box Hero"}}}}

{{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|W_TOsFvnmeQ|"Juke Box Hero"}}}}

}}

"Juke Box Hero" is a song by British-American rock band Foreigner written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones from their 1981 album 4. It first entered the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in July 1981 and eventually reached #3 on that chart.{{cite web|title=Foreigner Mainstream Rock Songs|publisher=Billboard|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/foreigner/chart-history/rtt/|access-date=2020-06-08}} Released as the album's third single in early 1982, it subsequently went to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart{{cite web|title=Foreigner Hot 100|publisher=Billboard|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/foreigner/chart-history|access-date=2020-06-08}}Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)

Background

The song focuses on a boy unable to purchase a ticket to a sold-out rock concert. Listening from outside, he hears "one guitar" and has an epiphany, leading him to buy a guitar and learn to play it. He realizes that with the guitar he has a chance to achieve musical stardom. The song then goes on to describe the struggle he has to stay on top of the music charts, which makes him a "Juke Box Hero". He eventually encounters another fan outside the stage door at one of his concerts, who reminds him of himself and how it all began.

Mick Jones told Songfacts that the song was inspired by an actual fan who stood waiting outside an arena for about five hours in the rain. Impressed by his dedication, Jones decided to take him in and give him a glimpse of what happens backstage at a concert. On July 19, 2016, Lou Gramm said on the Brother Wease radio show in Rochester, New York that the song was about him waiting outside the Rochester War Memorial to see Jimi Hendrix but the show was sold out.{{cite interview |last=Jones |first=Mick |subject-link=Mick Jones (Foreigner) |interviewer=Carl Wiser |publisher=Songfacts.com |title=Mick Jones of Foreigner |date=October 23, 2009 |access-date=29 April 2015 |url=http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/mick_jones_of_foreigner/}}{{cite web|title=Top 100 Classic Rock Songs|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-100-classic-rock-songs/|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|access-date=2020-07-10|date=June 20, 2013}} Jones has rated it as one his 11 favorite Foreigner songs.{{cite web|title=Mick Jones' 11 Favourite Foreigner Songs|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock|date=April 26, 2017|accessdate=2022-06-17|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/mick-jones-11-favourite-foreigner-songs}} According to Gramm, this is his favorite Foreigner song.{{Citation |title=Would Lou Gramm Reunite With Foreigner For Rock Hall of Fame? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dLrgvPJNG4 |language=en |access-date=2022-11-23}}

The song was developed out of two separate song ideas that were combined with the help of producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange. One of the ideas was the "Juke Box Hero" portion that Jones had developed and the other was developed by Gramm and had been called "Take One Guitar".{{cite web |title=The Strange and True Story of Foreigner 4 |author=Jeffries, Neil|date=July 2, 2016 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-strange-and-true-story-of-foreigner-4 |publisher=Classic Rock|access-date=2018-05-04}}

This song was also re-recorded live at a 2005 Las Vegas concert where it includes portions of the Led Zeppelin song "Whole Lotta Love" (from Led Zeppelin II), and released on Foreigner's Extended Versions album. A live version of "Juke Box Hero" was also released on the 2014 album Best of Foreigner 4 & More.{{cite web|title=Foreigner revive Juke Box Hero|url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/foreigner-revive-juke-box-hero|publisher=Classic Rock|date=December 23, 2014|access-date=2018-05-04}}{{cite web|title=Best of Foreigner 4 & More|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/best-of-foreigner-4-more-mw0002797053|author=James Christopher Monger|publisher=Allmusic|access-date=2018-05-04}}

This song later became the namesake of, and was included in, the coming-of-age jukebox musical Jukebox Hero, based on the songs of Foreigner.{{Cite magazine |last=Browne |first=David |date=February 20, 2019 |title=Inside 'Jukebox Hero,' the New Foreigner Musical |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/foreigner-musical-jukebox-hero-795644/ |access-date=April 10, 2022 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} The musical premiered in February 2019 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto, Ontario,{{Cite web |title=Mirvish.com: Jukebox Hero The Musical |url=https://www.mirvish.com/shows/jukebox-hero |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=www.mirvish.com |language=en}} with a book by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais, and an all-Canadian cast led by Nova Scotian actor/singer Geordie Brown.{{Cite web |title=Jukebox Hero: The Musical brings the songs of Foreigner to a Toronto stage |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/jukebox-hero-the-musical-brings-the-songs-of-foreigner-to-a-toronto-stage/article_cd0dce7a-858c-5c76-bd3f-5762fb07baa7.amp.html |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=www.thestar.com}}

Reception

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw ranked "Juke Box Hero" as Foreigner's all time greatest song, stating that "for anyone who has ever been on the wrong side of a sold-out concert, "Juke Box Hero" will touch a chord."{{cite web|title=Top 10 Foreigner Songs|author=Wardlaw, Matt|date=May 2, 2015|access-date=2020-06-11|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-10-foreigner-songs/}} Billboard called it "a snarling rocker featuring tough guitar breaks and hot vocals."{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|date=February 6, 1982|accessdate=2023-01-21|page=74|title=Top Single Picks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyUEAAAAMBAJ}} Billboard reviewer Gary Graff rated "Juke Box Hero" to be Foreigner's 5th greatest song.{{cite web|title=Foreigner's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks|author=Graff, Gary|publisher=Billboard|accessdate=2022-06-17|date=October 11, 2017|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/foreigner-songs-best-hits-list-7997542/}}

Although the physical 45 sold fewer than 500,000 copies, "Juke Box Hero" has been certified platinum by the RIAA for over a million digital downloads.{{cite certification|region=United States|artist=Foreigner|access-date=2023-01-22}}

Personnel

= Foreigner =

Lou Gramm – lead vocals
Mick Jones – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Rick Wills – bass guitar, backing vocals
Dennis Elliott – drums

= Additional personnel =

Thomas Dolby – main synthesizers
Larry Fast – sequential synthesizer
Ian Lloyd – backing vocals
Robert John "Mutt" Lange – backing vocals

Chart history

class="wikitable sortable"
align="left"\|Chart (1982) !align="left"\|Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report) \| style="text-align:center;"\|53
Canada RPM Top Singles \| style="text-align:center;"\|39
Germany \| style="text-align:center;"\|24
South Africa (Springbok){{cite web\|title=SA Charts 1965–March 1989\|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(F).html\|access-date=5 September 2018}} \|align="center"\|7
UK (The Official Charts Company){{cite web\|title=Foreigner singles\|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28540/foreigner/\|publisher=The Official Chart Company\|access-date=2020-06-08}} \| style="text-align:center;"\|48
US Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - {{ISBN\|0-89820-089-X}} \| style="text-align:center;"\|26
US Billboard Mainstream Rock \| style="text-align:center;"\|3
US Cash Box Top 100 \| style="text-align:center;"\|34

class="wikitable sortable"

align="left"|Chart (1982)

!align="left"|Peak
position

Australia (Kent Music Report)

| style="text-align:center;"|53

Canada RPM Top Singles

| style="text-align:center;"|39

Germany

| style="text-align:center;"|24

South Africa (Springbok){{cite web|title=SA Charts 1965–March 1989|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(F).html|access-date=5 September 2018}}

|align="center"|7

UK (The Official Charts Company){{cite web|title=Foreigner singles|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28540/foreigner/|publisher=The Official Chart Company|access-date=2020-06-08}}

| style="text-align:center;"|48

US Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}

| style="text-align:center;"|26

US Billboard Mainstream Rock

| style="text-align:center;"|3

US Cash Box Top 100

| style="text-align:center;"|34