Foreigner Risks Controversy By Reviving Old Song Accused of Being Sexist

Foreigner has risked controversy after reviving a 1980 single that was previously criticized for being sexist.

The track “Women” appeared on the band’s third album, Head Games, in 1979, and reached No.41 as the fourth single from the LP.

While featuring a light-hearted strutting riff described by founding guitarist Mick Jones as fun to play, the lyrics list women in a series of social roles as viewed from a male perspective.

Lou Gramm sang lines including: “Women who satisfy, women you can't buy” and “Women that stab you in the back with a switchblade knife.”

READ MORE: Lou Gramm Focuses on Foreigner Hits at 2026 Solo Tour Kickoff

In a recent fan update, current vocalist and guitarist Luis Maldonado responded to a query about adding more old tracks to their set list. “[W]e are trying to add more songs in the set from all Foreigner albums,” he wrote. “For instance, we just performed ‘Women’ and we had a blast!! It was never before performed live and we felt, why not?”

Head Games was noted for potential chauvinism on release, with its cover featuring 14-year-old actress Lisanne Falk, looking shocked, wiping of graffiti in a men’s restroom.

In a 1979 interview Gramm admitted Foreigner had taken “quite a bit of flak” for the cover and the song, but said the lyrics of “Women“ expressed stereotypes in a way that “couldn’t be more tongue-in-cheek.”

What Mick Jones Thought of Foreigner’s ‘Women’

Jones used the same phrase while discussing the song with UCR in 2014, saying: “You know, it was supposed to be a fun song, tongue-in-cheek a little bit – but yeah, it’s one of the band’s favorite songs to play. Throughout all of the years, it always comes up, you know, the fans bring it up sometimes. There’s certainly a nice little strut to it.”

According to Setlist.fm, Foreigner have performed “Women” a total of 31 times – mainly between 1979 and 1982 then again in the late ‘90s, and three times in June 2026, the most recent being in Switzerland on Jun. 25. Gramm performed it three times in the period between 2005 and 2007.

Watch Foreigner's 'Women' Video