CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) Members of REO Speedwagon will return to the U of I for the second time this summer as special guests of the Marching Illini (MI), where they will perform three REO songs with the MI during Halftime on Sat. Sept 27 (Football kick off at 11 a.m.) They will also take part of the sounding of the air raid siren.
On Friday, Sept. 26 they will also serve as grand marshals of the Homecoming parade, starting at 6 p.m. beginning at the intersection of Kirby Avenue and Fourth Street, before heading west on Gregory Drive and turning south on First Street.
Bruce Hall, REO bassist, said he is looking forward to coming back home for this event. “I feel wonderful and honored to be coming back home and this is going to be so much fun,” he said on Sunday. Founding members Alan Gratzer and Neal Doughty will be joining Hall for this weekend’s festivities and as of last week, it was confirmed that singer Kevin Cronin will also attend the homecoming.
Cronin was not able to attend the REO Legacy show held in June at the State Farm Center due to other commitments. There has also been some disagreements between Cronin and other original band members in recent years, and Hall says that he is really hoping that this will bring them back together so they can all start talking again.
“We really hope that he will participate with us,” said Hall. I was asked to bring my bass, Neal will be playing keyboards, Alan will be playing percussion and Kevin is supposed to be coming, but I don’t know what he will be playing yet.”
Hall said that he’s hoping this event will bring everyone in the band a little closer than they have been in a while. After having back surgery a couple of years ago, and being released by his doctors in 2023 to be fit to play on stage again, Cronin didn’t seem to feel Hall had good enough posture to perform at a level he thought the fans would expect.
Legalities then ensued and before anyone knew it, REO Speedwagon was no more. Hall, Doughty and Cronin, who each held one third ownership in the band, found conflicts with ownership and use of the REO name, so it was decided to end the band’s touring, due to irreconcilable differences between Cronin and Hall. The band officially stopped touring in January 2025.
“In my mind, what I’d love to see, and I don’t know what Kevin wants to do, but I’ve spoken with Alan and Neal and they’d be willing to go out and do a proper farewell. I think that the fans deserve that from us, just to come back and say goodbye, the right way, instead of things being left all over the place.” Hall conveyed. Hall and Cronin haven’t spoken in more than a year and a half.
Many fans who attended their Legacy show at the State Farm Center in June were hoping for just that kind of reunion and over social media posts, many are still ringing that sentiment. That show was held to honor the band’s legacy and appreciation of REO’s loyal fans to say Thank you and show them some love for all of the years they supported REO, Hall said. Members of the original line up including Terry Luttrell, Mike Murphy and Steve Scorfina, with memorials to guitarist Gary Richrath and bassist Gregg Philbin. Hall, Gratzer and Doughty were approached during their Legacy show about performing for the Homecoming with the Marching Illini and they agreed to come back for the honor.
Just last week, Cronin agreed to attend, saying in a press release, “I’m honored by the invitation and the opportunity to reunite for this special university event.” He also stated that he realized the importance of this rare chance, after many years apart from his former bandmates.
REO Speedwagon began at the U of I campus in 1967 by founding members Alan Gratzer, drummer and backing vocals and Neal Doughty, keyboards. After a few line up changes, Gary Richrath joined the band in 1970, after Scorfina left. It was Richrath who called Hall into the band.
Hall, a Champaign native, began playing guitar at age 12. He was playing in a band while still in high school called Feather Train. While they were looking for a new guitarist, one with a little extra flair, they heard about a guy named Gary Richrath in Peoria. They went up to Peoria, to play one night and asked Richrath to come by and watch them and he agreed to join Feather Train and moved to Champaign. After a little while, when Gary learned about an opening in REO when Scorfina left, he got the job.
“Gary was my pal, he wasn’t the Gary most people knew in REO at that time, he worked hard and was still working on his chops, getting better and better all the time. After being in REO, Gary became very dominant and very good, he had a style that nobody else was doing and was what made REO Speedwagon bigger than what they were,” Hall said.
At that time, REO was extremely well known around Champaign and had a huge following. When Gary left Feather Train for REO he told Bruce, “I’m Out of here, but you and I, we are going to play again someday. I didn’t think he meant it, but he called me in December of 1976, and he didn’t ask me if I wanted to join REO, he said that I was going to move to California, to where they moved to, and said that I had a couple of days to get out there. We rehearsed for a couple of days and I already knew a lot of their stuff and he said that we were going on tour.” Hall chuckled. “If it weren’t for Gary and it being REO, I wouldn’t have done it.”
With the announcement of Cronin accepting the invitation to come back, it has some fans buzzing about what-ifs?
Could this possibly be a glimmer of hope for the band to re-unite one last time and settle some differences?
“In my heart, that’s what I’d love. I’d love to do a farewell tour for the fans and tell them that we love them and thanks for everything.” Hall added. “It would be nice if Kevin would want to do that. I can’t speak for him, so I don’t know what he thinks. I really hope once he gets there, he will feel the excitement, and I hope he enjoys himself and that the power of music brings him back around.”
Hall said that he wishes Gary could have been part of the festivities at Homecoming. “I know he will be there, just not physically. This band means so much to me and it has been about 50 years for us. The fans deserve this, and we’ve been so blessed to have had their support all of these years. If it weren’t for the fans none of us would be here.”