Johnny Edwards is a singer who sang for the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, King Kobra, Wild Horses, Royal Jelly and is most famously known as the 2nd 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 5th 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 frontman.
Edwards is also an activist for peace and racial equality. His parents, Jean and George Edwards (a retired professor of theology and Presbyterian minister) of Louisville, Kentucky, are pacifists and civil rights activists who influenced Johnny to have as much contact with African-Americans as possible.
Johnny Edwards is now living a comfortable life in Louisville with his wife of 25 years raising his two children.
Famous quotes containing the words johnny and/or edwards:
“It’s nice to be a part of history but people should get it right. I may not be perfect, but I’m bloody close.”
—John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten)
“Chief Inspector Dreyfus: What about the maid?
Inspector Clouseau: The maid?
Chief Inspector Dreyfus: Was he jealous of her, too? He strangled her.
Inspector Clouseau: It’s possible that his intended victim was a man and he made a mistake.
Chief Inspector Dreyfus: A mistake? In a nudist camp?
Inspector Clouseau: Nobody’s perfect.”
—Blake Edwards (b. 1922)