REO Speedwagon bid farewell after 57 years, will continue under frontman Kevin Cronin's name
Kevin Cronin will continue performing REO Speedwagon's hits despite the group retiring.
REO Speedwagon will continue under frontman Kevin Cronin's name after they wrapped their final tour as a band.
After 57 years, the 'Can't Fight This Feeling' rockers – who have sold more than 40 million records worldwide - played their last show at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas on December 21.
Kevin, 73, paid tribute to his bandmates, including original drummer Alan Gratzer and pianist Neil Doughty, as they performed together for the last time, but vowed to continue performing their hits under his own name.
He reflected onstage in Sin City: "My chance meeting with Gary Richrath back in 1972 took me from the clubs of the folk scene of Chicago to the greatest venues of the world.
"Red Rocks in Colorado. The Los Angeles Forum. The Budokan Arena in Tokyo. Madison Square Garden. The Chicago Stadium. The Houston Astrodome. The New Orleans Superdome on back-to-back nights. Here, in the Venetian Theater, doing this amazing show with you guys.
"It has been amazing. It has also allowed me an astounding recording career with a with a 10-million-record-selling High Infidelity and a truckload of other songs that you all have taken into your hearts and made them your own.
"And I love that so much. It makes me feel so good so, I thank you for that. Without you and the entire REO fan family there's no way any of my rock'n'roll dreams would have come true, and so that, my friends will never change."
Extending his gratitude to everyone involved in REO, he went on: "I want to pay tribute to the co-founders and only real original members of REO Speedwagon, Alan Gratzer and Neil Doughty.
"Plus, the other original members of the band, Gregg Philbin and Terry Latrell, and of course my close partner in crime, in art, in everything, the late great Gary Richrath. Plus with the additions of Mike Murphy, Bruce Hall and 35-year veterans Dave Amato and Brian Hit.
"We couldn't have done it without any of those guys, so I feel sadness that this is the final REO Speedwagon concert and at the same time I feel grateful to have been part of this incredible ride we've all been brothers on, this amazing musical journey called REO Speedwagon, and I wish you all nothing but the best, and when I say 'you' I mean everyone who's been part of this band part of our crew and part of the REO Speedwagon fan family.”
Promising more to come under his own name, he concluded: "The REO Speedwagon name is being retired tonight, but the music, the spirit, the songs of REO Speedwagon will live on with this band and with me under the name Kevin Cronin. We hope you join us on that adventure."
Bassist Bruce Hall hadn’t toured with them this year, owing to his recovery from a back injury, and Kevin underwent emergency surgery that forced the band to cancel tour dates.
As a result, they cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason behind them ceasing to tour from January 2025.
In a recent interview, Kevin vowed to “never quit the band”, despite having to cease using their name.
He told Billboard: “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever see this coming. I didn’t want to end REO Speedwagon. This is sad, and I would do anything in my power to continue [as] REO Speedwagon. I never quit the band; I never will quit the band. I just got outvoted and… have to stop calling it REO Speedwagon at the end of this year.”
Since 1971, the group released 16 studio albums, their final being 2009’s festive covers collection ‘Not So Silent Night ... Christmas with REO Speedwagon’, which followed 2007’s ‘Find Your Own Way Home’.
