Dennis Elliott
Dennis Leslie Elliott (born 18 August 1950) is a British musician and artist who was the original drummer for the rock band Foreigner. He played with the band from 1976 until leaving between 1991 and 1993. He went on to become a sculptor.
Also recorded as Dennis Leslie Elliott
Dennis Elliott

Iona S. Elliott · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Dennis Elliott
- Born
- 18 August 1950
- Birthplace
- Peckham, London, England
- Birth Name
- Dennis Leslie Eliott
- Full name
- Dennis Leslie Eliott.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- sculptor · drummer · percussionist
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Dennis Leslie Elliott (born 18 August 1950) is a British musician and artist who was the original drummer for the rock band Foreigner. He played with the band from 1976 until leaving between 1991 and 1993. He went on to become a sculptor.
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1984148 · wikipedia · Dennis Elliott
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Dennis Elliott • Born — 18 August 1950 • Birthplace — Peckham, London, England • Instrument — Drums • Birth Name — Dennis Leslie Eliott • Associated Acts — Foreigner, If, Spooky Tooth • Years Active — 1968–present
Life and career
Life and career
Dennis Leslie Elliott was born in Peckham, London. He played the drums with his family band at age five in shows around London. As a teenager, he joined The Tea Set with his older brother Raymond, who sang and played trumpet. After The Tea Set, he became a member of The Shevelles at age sixteen. At eighteen, he played in the band Ferris Wheel and on their album of the same name. When he was nineteen, Dennis joined the jazz/rock band If and recorded four LPs with the ensemble. They continually toured Europe and the US, where he met and later married Iona Elliott on 2 March 1972. Later that year, Dennis joined The Roy Young Band, touring the UK and Europe and recording four singles with that band over the following year. • Illustration — Elliott with Maple Burl Wall Sculpture & Vessels. In 1974, Elliott toured and played on former Mott the Hoople lead singer Ian Hunter's first solo recording, Ian Hunter. After emigrating to the US in April 1975, he became a US Resident Alien. He was the original drummer for Foreigner when the band started in 1976. He officially left in January 1993. After leaving the music industry, Elliott turned to sculpture, working mainly in the medium of wood. Self-taught, many of his works have been vessels made of burlwood, sculpted wall mirrors, wall sculptures, and orbital sculptures. On 2 June 1990, Elliott and his wife, Iona, were rescued by the US Coast Guard after jumping from their yacht Charisma III, which had caught fire. Elliott became a US citizen in 1993. On 9 January 2013, he joined Foreigner on stage at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida to perform "Hot Blooded". On 12 January 2015, in Sarasota, Florida, Foreigner were joined on stage by original drummer Elliott and former bassist Rick Wills to play "Hot Blooded". Elliott joined his old mates for two songs at Foreigner's show on 2 August 2017, at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater in Tampa, Florida. A pair of '40th Anniversary Reunion Shows’ took place on 6–7 October 2017, at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where the current Foreigner group played one set and the original members consisting of the Head Games-era line-up: Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills, played the second set and were rejoined at the end with all members. The concerts were filmed for future release. On 4 August 2018, Elliott again joined a ‘Reunion Show’ at the Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, South Dakota, where the current Foreigner group played one set and the original members played the second and all joined together for the finale. In 2024, Elliott was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Foreigner.
The Shevells
The Shevells
• 1968: "Big City Lights"/"The Coffee Song" (single)
The Ferris Wheel
The Ferris Wheel
• 1970: Ferris Wheel (album) • 1970: "Can't Stop Now"/"I Know You Well" (UK single) • 1970: "Ugly Duckling"/"I Know You Well" (US single)
IF
IF
• 1970: If • 1970: If 2 • 1971: If 3 • 1972: If 4 • 1972: Waterfall • 1995: Forgotten Roads: The Best of If • 1997: Europe '72 • 2010: Fibonacci's Number - More Live If • 2012: If 2 + Live in Liverpool
The Roy Young Band
The Roy Young Band
• 1973: "Back Up Train" (single) • 1973: "Devil's Daughter" (single) • 1973: "Dig a Hole" (single) • 1973: "If You Could Only See Me Now" (single) • 2009: The Best of 50 Years (album)
Tony Ashton and Jon Lord
Tony Ashton and Jon Lord
• 1974: First of the Big Bands
Ian Hunter
Ian Hunter
• 1975: Ian Hunter • 1977: Overnight Angels
Foreigner
Foreigner
• 1977: Foreigner (#4 US) • 1978: Double Vision (#3 US, #32 UK) • 1979: Head Games (#5 US) • 1981: 4 (#1 US, #5 UK) • 1982: Records (#10 US, #58 UK) • 1984: Agent Provocateur (#4 US, #1 UK) • 1987: Inside Information (#15 US, #64 UK) • 1991: Unusual Heat • 1992: The Very Best... and Beyond (#123 US, #19 UK) • 1993: Classic Hits Live/Best of Live • 1994: JukeBox Heroes: The Best Of • 1998: The Best of Ballads– I Want to Know What Love Is • 1999: The Platinum Collection • 2000: Hot Blooded and Other Hits • 2000: Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology • 2002: Complete Greatest Hits (#80 US) • 2002: The Definitive (#33 UK) • 2004: Hot Blooded and Other Hits • 2005: The Essentials • 2008: No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner (#132 US) • 2009: Can't Slow Down (#29 US) Note: A different drummer plays on original material (first disc) • 2014: The Complete Atlantic Studio Albums 1977-1991
Ian Lloyd
Ian Lloyd
• 1980: Third Wave Civilization
Mick Jones
Mick Jones
• 1989: "Just Wanna Hold" (single) (#19 US Rock) • 1989: Mick Jones (album)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1950
Dennis Elliott born at London.
Museum collections
Museum collections
• Arkansas Art Center, Decorative Arts Museum - Little Rock, Arkansas • Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX • The Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts - Racine, Wisconsin • Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio • The Contemporary Museum of Art - Honolulu, Hawaii • Craft & Folk Art Museum - Los Angeles, California • The Detroit Institute of Arts - Detroit, Michigan • Fuller Craft Museum - Brockton, Massachusetts • The Gregg Museum of Art & Design, NC State University - Raleigh, NC • Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI • Los Angeles County Museum of Art - Los Angeles, California • The Mabel Brady Garven Collection, Yale University Art Gallery - New Haven, Connecticut • The Mint Museum of Craft & Design - Charlotte, North Carolina • Mobile Museum of Art, (formerly, Fine Arts Museum of the South) - Mobile, Alabama • Museum of Arts & Design, formerly The American Craft Museum - New York, New York • Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, Massachusetts • Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts • Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin • Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum - Washington, D.C. • The Slater Museum - Norwich, Connecticut • University of Michigan Museum of Art - Ann Arbor, Michigan
Special collections
Special collections
• Columbia Pictures, Star Trek Voyager set - Wall Sculpture - Bleached Maple Burl

Dennis Elliott and his wood sculptures 1997
Iona S. Elliott
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1984148: Dennis Elliott
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Dennis Elliott”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Today in history. The New York Times. Associated Press. 18 August 2014.
- 2.Dennis Elliot.
- 3.Gloss, Megan. They've been 'Juke Box Heroes'. Telegraph Herald. 18 May 2012.
- 4.Stemkovsky, Ilya. Jason Sutter. Modern Drummer. 1 August 2010.
- 5.Pandolfi, Keith. After three decades spent banging out songs such as 'Hot Blooded' and 'Urgent,' former Foreigner drummer Dennis Elliott left rock'n'roll to pursue his real passion—woodworking. Art Business News. 1 November 2003.
- 6."Biography for Dennis Elliott", Askart.com
- 7.Musician, wife go overboard as yacht burns. Chicago Sun-Times. 4 June 1990.
- 8.2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 22 April 2024.
- 9.Exchange: B2125 Wall Sculpture. exchange.umma.umich.edu.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q1984148: Dennis ElliottWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Dennis Elliott was recorded at birth as Dennis Leslie Eliott. The authorities additionally record the heading Dennis Leslie Elliott. His recorded language was English. Recorded as sculptor, drummer and percussionist.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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