The four surviving members of REO Speedwagon’s classic lineup reunited on Saturday, September 27, to take part in a special performance during halftime of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s home college football game. Singer Kevin Cronin, keyboardist Neal Doughty, bassist Bruce Hall, and drummer Alan Gratzer joined the college’s Marching Illini marching band for a medley of three REO Speedwagon tunes at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, as part of the school’s Homecoming festivities.
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Cronin served as emcee of the performance, delivering introductory comments about each song and REO’s historic connection to the university. Doughty, Hall, and Gratzer, meanwhile, played along as the 400-plus-member marching gave a dynamic, choreographed performance.
Doughty and Gratzer helped form REO Speedwagon in 1966 after meeting as students at the university.
After the band members were introduced during halftime, Cronin led the crowd in a chant spelling out “I-L-L-I-N-I.” The old bandmates all wore the orange home jerseys of the U. of Illinois Fighting Illini football team.
More About REO’s Performance with the Marching Illini
“Hi, everybody. I’m Kevin,” Cronin then said. “On behalf of Alan, Neil, Bruce, and the entire REO Speedwagon family, I want to thank the people of Illinois, the city of Champaign-Urbana, and this great university for providing a springboard for our music that launched us on a mind-blowing musical experience. Thanks, you guys.”
He continued “It is a great honor to hear the Marching Illini, directed by our friend, the great Barry Houser, and with a little help from the classic REO lineup, as we play a song that got the ball rolling. Written by the late great [REO guitarist] Gary Richrath, ‘Ridin’ the Storm Out,’ baby. Let’s go!”
Cronin then danced and cheered on the marching band as the musical collective put on an impressive sonic and visual performance of REO’s 1973 fan favorite, with Kevin’s ex-bandmates playing along.
Cronin then noted reminisced about REO Speedwagon playing free shows at the on-campus Quad, as well as concerts performances at the local Red Lion Inn club and Assembly Hall.
“We have had an amazing ride together, my friends,” he said, before announcing that the next song would be the 1978 hit “Roll with the Changes.”
The Halftime Show Finale
Before introducing the third and final song, Cronin talked about the experience he and his fellow REO alums had meeting and interacting with the members of the marching band.
“We had the great pleasure to hang out with this wonderful group of young musicians all day yesterday,” Kevin said. “[We enjoyed] being among them, feeling their spirit, their enthusiasm, their optimism, along with smiling for approximately 410 selfies. It was an afternoon we’ll always remember. In their eyes, we saw a bright future. We felt their joy. We watched them cooperate with one another, and further prove that we are all better when we work together.”
Cronin then announced, “And now, we celebrate the 157th anniversary of the great Marching Illini with our song from the first album, ‘157 [Riverside Avenue].’”
The REO Speedwagon-themed halftime celebration ended with an energetic performance of the upbeat, 1971 blues-rock tune.
More About REO Members’ Participation in the School’s Homecoming Events
As previously reported, Cronin, Doughty, Hall, and Gratzer also served as the Grand Marshals of the U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Homecoming parade on Friday, September 26.
The reunion comes after a dispute between Cronin and Hall led to REO Speedwagon retiring as a touring entity at the end of 2024. Gratzer left the group in 1988, while Doughty retired from touring in 2023. Richrath, the other member of the group’s best-known lineup, died in 2015 at age 65.
Cronin and Hall apparently put aside their differences to take part in the university’s Homecoming celebrations.
Before the halftime performance, the four former bandmates were interviewed about reuniting by Illinois TV station WCIA. Asked what it means to them to be getting together again, Gratzer said, “It’s special and it makes me happy.”
Doughty then noted, “I mean, we all live in a different place, and … we don’t see each other very often anymore. So it’s nice.”
Cronin then offered “To me, the fans all around the country, they know that we’re gonna be together for the first time in a long time. And … REO Speedwagon has always stood for, you know, we ride the storm out. We roll with the changes. … We’re a positive energy source, and that’s what the institution of REO Speedwagon has always stood for. So for the four of us to be here together, I think it sends a message to the fans … that you overcome whatever you got to overcome in the service of them, the fans.
Questioned whether the Homecoming celebration might be the last time that all the ex-bandmates reunite, Doughty said, “You never know.”
Gratzer, added, “One never knows. We don’t know. We can’t read the future, the magic ball.”
(Photo by Fred Zwicky/University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
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