Sigma Chi Fraternity
University of Southern California

When the Sigma Chi rush chairman offered a bid during USC rush to a 19-year-old kid named Bruce Watson back in 1978, never could he have imagined the pledge would be a future rock star.

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Watson is the lead guitarist for the world-renowned rock and roll band Foreigner and has established himself as the pre-eminent guitarist with the band since 2011.

And he’s now a 2026 Significant Sig.

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So, it was extra special that, just days after his award was made official, some of Watson’s pledge brothers got to congratulate him in person backstage when Foreigner played in at the Harris Center outside of Sacramento, on March 23. Watson got them front-row VIP tickets so that when he looked down from the stage, instead of seeing just nameless fans, he saw a bunch of his pledge brothers whooping it up. In fact, he smiled and pointed right at them.  

“Bruce loves it when we are able to see him at a show,” said Bob Vogelzang (AU 1981). “He’s the lead guitarist in Foreigner, but he’s up there having fun.” Vogelzang laughed and said, “We see him as our pledge brother, our fraternity brother, and he is so excited to get the Significant Sig award. He was completely mind-blown by that,” says Vogelzang. “Flabbergasted, totally flabbergasted.”

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THIS ROCK AND ROLL STAR LOVES SIGMA CHI

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And this rock and roll star loves Sigma Chi.   In fact, several weeks before Watson was selected for the award, Vogelzang asked Bruce if he would be kind enough to meet with a fellow Sigma Chi who is a huge Foreigner fan and had tickets for the show in Las Vegas.  Although Bruce had no idea who this fellow Sig was, without hesitation Bruce graciously said, “happy to do it”.  It was only when a star-struck Ed Rammrath met him after the show that Watson learned he was talking to another Significant Sig and the Chairman of the Significant Sig Selection Committee.

“It was a great experience,” Rammrath said, meeting the lead guitarist for his favorite band. “It was just over the top.”

Watson told Rammrath that he was really excited about winning Significant Sig. “He was just beside himself about all this.”

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HE'S A LEGACY SIG WHOSE DAD WOULD BE PROUD

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Watson’s dad Jack was also a USC Sig and passed into Chapter Eternal just a couple of years ago. “Bruce's first thoughts on learning of his award was how proud his dad would have been,” said Vogelzang.

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Watson has been Foreigner’s lead guitarist for more than 15 years, has recorded several albums with them, and has toured all over the world. Not long after graduating from USC, Watson abandoned a banking job and chased his passion. He became an acclaimed studio musician, recording with Elton John, Rod Stewart, B.B. King and more. Another member of Foreigner invited Watson to sit in temporarily and it quickly became permanent.

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Vogelzang says Foreigner lead singer Luis Maldonado said on stage at the recent concert, "If I know one thing in the world, it is this...that my good friend Bruce Watson is the best rock and roll guitarist on the planet.”

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His chapter mates called him Birdman (they won’t say why he got that nickname) and, as nicknames at Sigma Chi are long-lasting, they still call him Birdman to this day.

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"It was clear to the Sigs back then that Birdman would not let anything stop him from becoming a star guitarist. “In addition to being an awesome guitar player,” says chapter mate Jeff Swan in an online post, “Bruce ‘Birdman’ Watson is one of the nicest souls anyone could ever meet.”

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And get this: Back at the chapter house during those undergrad days, Watson and late Sig Jeff Bitetti (AU 1983) wrote a Sigma Chi song, and now, Watson and Bitetti’s widow are said to be working on a copyright before potentially donating the song to our fraternity. Would Bruce Watson, Foreigner lead guitarist, ever record it for all of us? Let’s see.