Kevin Cronin Is ‘Sad and Angry’ About REO Speedwagon Ending

The announcement that REO Speedwagon would be ending its touring career in 2024 due to “irreconcilable differences” between Kevin Cronin and bassist Bruce Hall came as a huge shock to fans.

But as Cronin reveals, it’s something which also blindsided him personally. “The thought of REO Speedwagon coming to an end, it’s just unfathomable to me,” he tells UCR. “I never expected it.”

For the first time since the news broke in mid-September, the singer-songwriter sat for a conversation to lay out the details from his side. He has five more concerts with REO Speedwagon, starting later this week. After that, he will begin touring under his own name in 2025, backed by fellow longtime REO guitarist Dave Amato and drummer Bryan Hitt, and keyboardist Derek Hilland and bassist Matt Bissonette. Fans will have ample opportunity to see Cronin on stage. He’s part of the newly announced Brotherhood of Rock tour, which will reunite him with his longtime touring partners and friends in Styx for a sixth run next summer.

“There’s a difference between Styx and REO Speedwagon and Styx and Kevin Cronin, at least on paper,” he says. “But those guys put their faith in me. We did a couple of shows this past year and they saw the current lineup of the band and they were blown away by it. I’m very, very grateful to Tommy Shaw and the whole Styx organization for having faith in me.”

Let’s start by talking about your health, briefly. You had to leave the tour with Train unexpectedly this summer due to health issues. I had the chance to see you with REO in Toledo since then, so the good news is you’re back at it – but fans were concerned. So whatever you’re comfortable with sharing about that whole journey, you can talk about it a bit if you want to.
You know, it was just an unexpected accident. I hurt myself and it required a little surgical repair in my abdominal area. Luckily, I had great care from a great surgeon out here in Southern California. She told me it would be four to six weeks recovery. I trusted her and did what I was supposed to do. Boy, the human body is an amazing organism. Its healing powers are astounding. The accident happened the night of our Forum show here in Los Angeles. It happened in the middle of the night. If you’d asked me a couple of days after that, I was just in pain [and had to] go to the hospital. But man, even at the ripe old age of 73 – and of course, I feel like I’m 23 – it healed up. If you saw the show in Toledo, you know that I really haven’t lost a step. I feel better than ever and made a full recovery, no complications. The bummer was that we couldn’t do the final two shows of the Train tour.

We got some shocking news with the word that REO Speedwagon is winding down at the end of this year due to what was described as “irreconcilable differences.” People have been understandably sad about that and I’m sure that extends to you as well. How did it come to this point?
Well, I mean, it’s very sad for me. I’ve spent my entire adult life putting 100% effort and energy into REO Speedwagon and it’s meant the world to me. All of my best songs were recorded by REO Speedwagon and we accomplished so much together. The thought of REO Speedwagon coming to an end, it’s just unfathomable to me. I never expected it. There was a lot of information that was circulating online. I would say a lot of it was inaccurate and some of it was hurtful. It’s very sad. [There are] a lot of people who connect their life to certain REO Speedwagon experiences they had. Whether it was a song of ours that they played at their wedding or their first date – or they went to an REO show for their anniversary, whatever it was … you know, REO Speedwagon has been the constant. It’s been an American institution. I never in my wildest dreams thought that REO Speedwagon would end before my career was over.

I expected to, for lack of a better term, ride the Speedwagon all of the way into the barn, when I couldn’t do it anymore – whether it was health or whatever. But I never expected what has come down this year. It’s sad and it’s unfortunate. There’s a part of me that’s angry about it. But there’s a part of it that has had to accept it. There’s only so much I can do. You know, REO Speedwagon at this point, it’s a partnership between the three heritage members. I got one vote. I wanted to keep the band that you saw in Toledo, that everyone saw with Train this year and in various other cities around the country. My intention was just to keep that going. It’s just too good. But I got outvoted, so it’s as simple as that. I’m kind of left with no alternative, because I want to keep this band. Playing with this band has been so fulfilling, uplifting and inspirational for me that I want to keep it together and keep it going. If it can’t be called REO Speedwagon, we’ll call it Kevin Cronin or the Kevin Cronin Band and we will carry on and just keep building upon what we did in 2024.

Kevin, when someone joins a band like you did back in the day, they don’t necessarily think that it is eventually going to become a brand and a corporation and as you say, a partnership. But you guys have for so long, gone against the grain. The band always seemed really close-knit. So fans obviously have had a lot of questions, like, why can’t there be a farewell tour?
Well, you know, a farewell tour would be a farewell celebration of some sort. That would be a great idea, except for the fact that I’m not ready to say farewell. Some guys might be ready to say farewell, but I’m not one of them. At some point, when I’m ready and when I’m done for whatever reason that happens to be, I will have a massive farewell celebration – because the fans deserve that. You know, it’s the fans who have allowed me to pursue and reach beyond my wildest rock and roll dreams. I’ve been so fortunate to write songs that get into people’s DNA, basically. Here we are in 2024 playing sold-out arenas. A huge Live Nation tour. The audiences have been beyond enthusiastic, as opposed to people’s enthusiasm kind of dampening a bit as time goes by. It’s even become more powerful. I think people appreciate the fact that we’re still out here doing it. So there will come a time for a farewell tour and I wish it could be as REO Speedwagon. But as I said, there’s only so much I can do about that.

I guess I would say this. If people really look at the history and culture of REO Speedwagon – and I’m just talking about the way the band evolved – it’s never been like U2, Aerosmith or Cheap Trick, guys who grew up together and knew each other since elementary school. It’s never been that kind of thing. REO Speedwagon started in Champaign, Illinois, which was a place that people came from all over the country to go to school, because it’s an amazing school. It was a hotbed of activity for rock bands back in the late ’60s. There was an agency there called Blytham Limited, that was run by Irving Azoff, who of course went on to rule the world as he does now. REO Speedwagon and Dan Fogelberg were his first management clients, but I digress. The point is that REO Speedwagon, by the time I joined the band in 1972, they’d had three different lead guitar players, two different bass players. They had a brass section for a while.

They had made one album and Gary Richrath, who kind of discovered me up in Chicago, realized the band needed some reinforcements in the songwriting department. The fact that I also played guitar, they brought me in. Two years later, I had some vocal cord-related issues that got in the way of recording the Ridin’ the Storm Out album. I was replaced by Mike Murphy and a couple of years later, it wasn’t working with Murph, so they brought me back. The next year, it wasn’t working with Gregg Philbin and Bruce joined. It’s been a constant evolution. The unspoken truth is that with REO Speedwagon, you gotta earn your job every day and if you don’t, look out! At any rate, as you said, there’s always been a closeness and camaraderie and it always showed on stage. But you know, like many bands over the year, people change, circumstances change and relationships change. It makes me sad, but I don’t know what I can do, except that, I’m not ready to stop. I’m not ready to call it quits. I feel like I’m surrounded by a great group of guys. The chemistry is great, the music sounds awesome and I want to keep this band together.

In order to do that, I have to change the name of my band to my own name – which seems weird. You know, I’ve always been a band guy. It wasn’t like I quit REO Speedwagon to pursue a solo career. Someone told me that was circulating online and that is the furthest thing from the truth. I never quit REO Speedwagon. I will never quit REO Speedwagon and I have no intention of embarking on a solo career. This is just the hand that I’ve been dealt. And as far as 2024 goes, the way I understand it is that Bruce agreed to sit out the 2024 tour and to receive full pay as if he was touring. That’s exactly what we did and that’s what he accepted. So that’s 2024 in a nutshell. I know there’s been a lot of opinions from people who think they know what goes on within this band. Honestly, I was a little bit disheartened that so much of this was played out publicly. The fans were actually brought into this whole thing.

You never like to see that.
Yeah, we don’t like that. You know, fans don’t like it and that’s why I’ve kept my mouth shut. I feel like these are private matters that are personal, they’re musical and they’re creative. Things happen in bands that no one can possibly understand unless you’re there, unless you’re in it and feeling it. Because music is such a spiritual thing. It’s a creative thing and things change. So that’s the way I understand it. I feel a combination of sadness and excitement. I feel sad that REO Speedwagon has to come to a close this way. But I feel excited that I’m going to continue making music. I’m writing. Richard Marx and I wrote a song together, which I’m so proud of. I’m looking forward to getting in and recording that with Richard. We’ve already got Richard’s version done. We’re going to work on [mine next], so we’re going to have two versions of the song.

Are you looking to do an album sometime in 2025?
You know, I love making records. I always have. Writing songs is probably the most rewarding part of my professional life. When you finish the song, that’s such a magical moment. Because you’re working on it and for me, there’s that moment of inspiration, I call it the holy moment, where it just hits you. A little chord progression hits a certain feeling and this magic trip happens. It ends up being a song. Once that part of the job is complete, then I start thinking in terms of the record. What could this song sound like? Where would there be vocal harmonies? Where would the guitars be? I love making records and it’s tough, because it takes so much time. At this point, we tour a lot. We’re probably on the road at least half the year, if not more. So then to come home and look at my wife, Lisa and go, “Yeah, honey, I know I’ve been gone for six months, but I’m going to go in the studio for the next six months,” I don’t know if that’s gonna fly.

The business has changed to the point that it used to be that you just kept writing until you had enough songs for an album and then you went in and made an album. Now, you can release songs one at a time if you want to. I’m definitely planning on recording my version of the song that Richard and I wrote. [Beyond that], I’m just looking forward to moving past the drama of the year and putting it behind us. I’m so grateful to the fans who have supported me through the years, who will hopefully continue to support me. Because starting in 2025, if you want to see an REO Speedwagon concert, you’ll come and see Kevin Cronin. Because that’s the songs, that’s the attitude and that’s what it is kind of going to be. I’m feeling grateful and at the same time, I can’t deny feeling sad about it. It’s both of those things at the same time. But we’re going to get through this and I’m looking forward to 2025.