Zia Middle School Choir to sing with Foreigner

On any serious list of enduring songs from the 1980s, somewhere near the top one will find Foreigner’s 1984 rock ballad, “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Its distinctive refrain, with singer Lou Gramm backed by a gospel chorus, firmly lodged the chart-topping song among the decade’s most familiar in the U.S.

When Foreigner plays the song at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces on Oct. 9, the band’s current lead singer, Kelly Hansen, will be joined onstage by 25 children from the Zia Middle School Choir.

The band, which is concluding an extensive farewell tour this year and will be officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19, has a practice of inviting local choirs to join them for the song – and donating cash for those choir programs, working with local radio stations to organize competitions and select the guest performers.

In Las Cruces, listeners of KVLC-FM (“101 Gold”) selected Zia’s choir to join the band at the Pan Am. The selection was announced on Sept. 25.

“I knew of the contest coming up back in the spring,” Zia Middle School choir teacher Christopher Yee told the Las Cruces Bulletin, “and I thought … we’re gonna make this worth our while.”

Yee and students from his advanced and intermediate choirs, combining seventh- and eighth-graders, extensively rehearsed the song and produced a music video in their classroom, with children actively involved in the photography and editing in addition to the music.

Foreigner’s current keyboard player, Michael Bluestein, was not yet born when “I Want to Know What Love Is” made its debut 40 years ago, and for many of the Zia Middle School students the song was unfamiliar, Yee said. When he played it for the students, he said one exclaimed, “My dad knows this song!” and that a few students acquainted with classic rock had also heard it before.

As word spread that their choir had been selected for the concert, Yee said parents and school staff were “super excited.”

“People are rallying, and they're excited about it,” he said. “I’m excited about it. I think it's going to be an amazing opportunity to just be able to meet the band and sing at the Pan Am with my middle schoolers… This is awesome.”

Foreigner is performing with Loverboy, another iconic 1980s arena rock ensmble, for one night only at the Pan American Center, 1801 E. University Avenue. The show begins at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 with tickets available at ticketmaster.com or at the Pan Am Center’s box office.