Black Sheep, featuring Albion’s Michael Bonafede, to go into Rochester Music Hall of Fame
Band and lead singer Lou Gramm performed in Albion this past June
Lou Gramm performs with some of his Black Sheep band mates in Albion during a concert at the Pratt Event Center in Albion in the former Pratt Opera House. Michael Bonafede, drummer for the band in the mid 1970s, played the drums again for the reunion concert in a venue he owns with his wife, Judith Koehler. Black Sheep will be inducted in the 2025 Class of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame on April 13. After Black Sheep, Gramm went on to international stardom as lead singer of Foreigner, selling more than 80 million albums.
ROCHESTER – A band that featured Michael Bonafede on drums about 50 years ago is going into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame.
That band also included Lou Grammatico as lead singer. After Black Sheep stopped performing in 1976, Grammatico became Lou Gramm in his new band, Foreigner. That band launched Gramm into stardom, selling more than 80 million albums.
Foreigner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 in Cleveland.
Gramm hasn’t forgotten his hometown on Rochester. And he hasn’t forgotten his Black Sheep bandmates. The group has performed in reunion concerts, including two concerts on June 23 in Albion at the Pratt Event Center.
The Rochester Music Hall of Fame on Monday announced Black Sheep as one of three inductees of the 2025 Class. The others include the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Record Archive.
Black Sheep was a popular Rochester band in the 1970s, playing in high school gymnasiums for school dances and the Penny Arcade. The band was on a rapid trajectory, with two albums out by major record labels in 1975.
The band toured with Hall and Oates, Aerosmith and Kiss, and played with other big names. The band opened for Kiss in Boston, and was coming home and was in an accident on an icy road. The crash destroyed the band’s equipment, and they weren’t able to find a replacement in time to keep touring. That prematurely put an end to the band in 1976. Gramm would join Foreigner not long after with the support of his Black Sheep band mates.
Tony Gross, a board member for the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, noted Gramm was inducted in the local Hall of Fame in 2013. He will be the first two-time selection.
“We applaud Lou, we applaud the band and what they’ve done for the community,” Gross said during a news conference on Monday at the Record Archive, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Bonafede has been a champion of the arts in Albion. He served many years on the Albion Board of Education, including as president. The district has perennially been recognized with national awards for its music program.
He also has diligently brought back the opera house on the third floor of the Pratt building on Main Street, opening the stage to performers in the community and beyond. For many years he also served as chairman of the Strawberry Festival, which features many bands in the parade and at venues in the festival.
Black Sheep will get back together again. This time on April 13 during the Hall of Fame induction at the Eastman Theatre.
For more on the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, click here.
Some of the performers take a bow after the performance on June 23, featuring some of the Black Sheep band members. From left include Michael Bonafede, Alona Kuhns, Lou Gramm, Don Mancuso, Larry “Rose” Crozier and Luke Crozier.
