The classic rock singer reveals more details about what led to his band’s breakup.
REO Speedwagon broke up over a year ago due to “irreconcilable differences” after more than five decades of existence. In a new interview, frontman Kevin Cronin said the group’s dynamic began to change during the Covid pandemic.
“I started to kind of rethink some things. And I started wanting to reach out,” Cronin told Billy Corgan.Magnificent second” podcast. “I wanted a little more. And not necessarily outside the band. I wanted to elevate the band somehow.”
Cronin said he began working with a vocal coach, “putting my voice through 10,000 hours” to be ready to continue touring.
“So when the band got back together after the pandemic, I was psyched. And some of the guys in the band shared that enthusiasm and some of them didn’t,” the 74-year-old singer said. “And so it was kind of like, ‘Wait a minute, what’s going on here?’ do you know And so a small chasm opened up within the band.”
Cronin said things really started to fall apart in 2023, when REO Speedwagon planned a residency in Las Vegas and performed the band’s entire album “Hi Infidelity” “with a massive audiovisual presentation.” When bassist Bruce Hall injured his back a week before the residency was scheduled to begin, the band replaced him with Elton John’s bassist Matt Bissonnette.
“I love Bruce and I think he might feel like I’m out to get him,” Cronin told Corgan. “I’ve heard it from people that there’s a feeling there and that’s just not the case at all. I don’t have any ill feelings towards him.”
Earlier reports said that Hall wanted to rejoin the band later in 2023, but the band continued to tour with Bissonette. REO Speedwagon performed at the New York State Fair in the summer and at the Syracuse Amphitheater in 2024.
The group played their last show as REO Speedwagon on January 1, 2025. Cronin said he tried to repair the rift but was unable to.
“It became an impossible situation,” Corgan said.
The relationship soured further when the REO alumni reunited without Cronin for a special “retrospective” performance (featuring Syracuse native Alan Gratzer) last June in the group’s hometown of Champaign, Illinois. Cronin toured under his own name, but later admitted that it was harder to sell tickets as the Kevin Cronin Band.
Cronin, Hall, Gratzer and retired keyboardist Neal Doughty stoked fans’ hopes when they reunited as grand marshals for the University of Illinois’ homecoming parade in September. They performed with the Fighting Illini marching band, the first time the four had been together in a musical capacity since Gratzer left the band in 1988.
However, no further reunions have been announced and it remains unclear if REO Speedwagon will go on the run again.
Fronted by Cronin since 1972, REO Speedwagon is best known for 1970s and 1980s rock hits such as “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Take It On the Run” and “Keep on Loving You.” Cronin said last year that he may continue to perform solo – his next concert will be on February 23 Cruise of rock legends — and will also be working on finishing his memoir, tentatively titled “Roll With the Change: My Life Within and Without REO Speedwagon.”
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