In 1966, Neal Doughty and Alan Gratzer, two college students in Champaign, Illinois, got together to start a band called REO Speedwagon. That band went through a number of different lineups, and it eventually became a tremendously successful institution. After REO Speedwagon released their self-titled debut, Kevin Cronin came aboard as lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and he left or was fired after the release of 1972's R.E.O./T.W.O. Cronin rejoined the band in 1976, and he led them through their biggest successes. Cronin wrote the band's two chart-toppers, "Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling," and he wrote or co-wrote many of their other hits.
Last year, REO Speedwagon announced that they were breaking up because of "irreconcilable differences" between Cronin and his bandmate Bruce Hall, who joined up in 1978. (The original members were all out of the lineup by then; Neal Doughty retired from touring in 2023.) It's genuinely shocking for a legacy band like this to fracture when there's still money to be made on the road. In December, before REO Speedwagon played their farewell shows, Cronin said that the breakup wasn't his idea: "I just got outvoted." Now, a bunch of Cronin's former bandmates are getting back together without him playing a show "honoring the legacy of REO Speedwagon." Cronin isn't happy about it.
Neal Doughty, Alan Gratzer, and Bruce Hall are among the former REO Speedwagon members playing that "honoring the legacy" show, which goes down June 14 at Champaign's State Farm Center. Early members Terry Luttrell, Mike Murphy, and Steve Scorfina -- all of whom were REO Speedwagon members before Kevin Cronin -- are also scheduled to perform, along with "special guests and former members." That night, Cronin and his Kevin Cronin Band have a show in Oregon with Styx.
The Kevin Cronin Band recently announced that they'll take part in next year's Rock Legends Cruise. In the comments of the Facebook announcement, one fan mentions the Champaign show and says, "Sure would be nice if you were to attend." Cronin himself responded, writing that he's "deeply disturbed and hurt" by his ex-bandmates' action. Here's what he wrote:
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.
These guys haven't forgotten what they started fighting for.
