REO Speedwagon have announced a one-off show in June without singer and founding member Kevin Cronin and Cronin is mighty pissed about it.
Cronin posted on Facebook, “Fourfourfour Live the organizers of the Champaign event could have picked a date when all of the former members of REO were available to participate. Instead they chose June 14, 2025, a date where it was public knowledge that I was previously committed to perform with Styx and Kevin Cronin Band in Bend, Oregon.
“Bottom line, I am being asked to participate in an event on a date when I can’t possibly be there in-person. And then being falsely accused of turning down the invitation. I am deeply disturbed and hurt by all of this.
“After all I have done to help build the legacy of REO Speedwagon, I feel I have earned and deserve to be included in any event honoring that legacy. Instead, I have been knowingly excluded … kc
“PS. 35-year REO veterans Dave Amato and Bryan Hitt were not even shown the respect of being invited to the Champaign event.”
REO Speedwagon came to an end in 2024, 57 years after they formed in Illinois. The statement to announce the end of the band cited singer/rhythm guitarist Kevin Cronin and bass player Bruce Hall’s “irreconcilable differences”.
Neal Doughty had been with the band from the start in 1967 but did not participate in the 2023.2024 dates. Kevin Cronin joined in 1972 but took off 1974 and 1975, returning in 1976. Bruce Hall has been the bass player for the band since 1977.
The upcoming show is to honor the band in their home town of Champaign, Illinois. It will feature co-founders Neal Doughty (1967-2024) and Alan Gratzer (1967-1988), along with long-serving bassist Bruce Hall (1977-2-24) and early members, the original lead singer Terry Luttrell (1968-1972), Mike Murphy (1973-1975) and Steve Scorfina (1969-1970).
Cronin is the best known singer taking lead vocal on the hits ‘Keep On Loving You’, ‘Take It On The Run’ and ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’.
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