Original REO Speedwagon Members Reunite for One Night
The band comes together in their hometown on June 14
As reported last week in our feature on Kevin Cronin, the one time REO Speedwagon frontman is no longer with the band after over 50 years in their ranks.
“That’s some of the problems that have led to what I refer to as ‘irreconcilable differences’ between [REO Speedwagon bassist] Bruce Hall and myself — which, I never in a million years expected that to happen,” he told us. “I probably should have seen it coming a little bit over the past few years, but I always just had Bruce’s back, because he was with me since the late ’70s. But hey, you know, it went south and there’s no turning back. I move forward. I can’t go backwards.”
But while Cronin and his own band of REO alumni are hitting the road this summer with Styx, six other members of the Speedwagon family will be performing for one night at a charity concert in the band’s hometown of Champaign, Illinois, on June 14.
Among the members who will be part of this lineup include Hall on bass, keyboardist and founding member Neal Doughty, original drummer Alan Gratzer, guitarist Steve Scorfina, Mike Murphy on rhythm guitar and original frontman Terry Luttrell.
There will also be video memorials for fallen REO members in guitarists Gary Richrath, who died in 2015, and Greg Philbin, who passed away in 2022.
“So excited for this ONE night only event, back where it all began, in MY hometown!” wrote Hall on Facebook. “Looking forward to reminiscing, rockin’ with the founding fathers and saying a proper goodbye. Most importantly, this celebration benefits the REO Speedwagon Foundation for rare GU cancer research at Moffitt Cancer Center. I truly believe Gary is proud and smiling down on us. Let’s rock!”
Despite going on his own tour, Cronin let his feelings be known about the other members coming together without him.
“The organizers of the Champaign event could have picked a date when all of the former members of REO were available to participate,” he wrote on Facebook. “Instead they chose June 14, 2025, a date where it was public knowledge that I was previously committed to perform with Styx and the 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. 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.”
On the other hand, if you’re a fan of the massively underrated first REO album with Luttrell on the mic, do what you can to get to Champaign for this one-time-only event.
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