Kevin Cronin “disturbed and hurt” over being excluded from one-off REO Speedwagon reunion

Former REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin has expressed his disappointment on social media over the band’s forthcoming one-off reunion.

The classic rock band will be honoured at a concert in Champaign, Illinois in June, where former members – co-founders Neal Doughty and Alan Gratzer, along with long-serving bassist Bruce Hall and early members Terry Luttrell, Mike Murphy and Steve Scorfina – will reunite for a special celebration.

One former member that isn’t appearing is Cronin, who joined the band in 1972 and left the following year, before returning in 1976 and staying all the way to their 2024 farewell tour.

Last September, REO Speedwagon announced that, though “heartbroken” to do so, they will cease touring at the end of the year, bringing an end to the beloved rock band due to “irreconcilable differences” between Cronin and Hall. Cronin had previously revealed that he “didn’t want to end REO Speedwagon… I just got outvoted and… have to stop calling it REO Speedwagon at the end of this year.”

Since the band’s dissolution, Cronin has been touring with the Kevin Cronin Band. In a social media post promoting their shows on the 2026 Rock Legends Cruise, a fan commented mentioning the upcoming REO Speedwagon concert, saying: “Sure would be nice if you could attend”.

Cronin replied with a lengthy statement: “The organizers of the Champaign event could have picked a date when all of the former members of REO were available to participate,” he began, adding that the chosen date clashes with a concert he has with his band and Styx in another state.

He claimed that he was “asked to participate in an event on a date when I can’t possibly be there in-person” and that he was “falsely accused of turning down the invitation”.

“I am deeply disturbed and hurt by all of this,” he stated. “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.”

Cronin added that former REO members Dave Amato and Bryan Hitt “were not even shown the respect of being invited to the Champaign event”. Amato and Hitt currently perform alongside Cronin in his solo band.

At the band’s final show in 2024, Cronin said during a parting speech: “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.”

Leading up to REO Speedwagon’s end, ownership interest in the band was controlled by three members: Cronin, sole remaining founding member Neal Doughty, and longtime bassist Bruce Hall. Hall has been absent from tour since November 2023 due to back surgery, and Doughty retired from touring last year. Doughty and Hall voted to bring an end to REO Speedwagon, outvoting Cronin two-to-one.

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