It was 34 years ago – in March 1985 – that rock group REO Speedwagon topped Billboard’s Hot 100 list for three consecutive weeks with their hit song, “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”
Formed in 1967 in Champaign, Ill., the band has undergone personnel changes over the years, and Neal Doughty (keyboards) is the only original REO member. Other current members are Kevin Cronin (vocals, rhythm guitar), Bruce Hall (bass), Dave Amato (guitar) and Bryan Hitt (drums).
Fast forward to 2019, when the band is busier than ever, regrouping following Cronin’s tour of Germany as part of a Rock Meets Classic concert tour, where he played some of REO’s now classic hits with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan and Loverboy’s Mike Reno and a symphony orchestra.
Following the group’s recent shows performing with Chicago, Styx and Don Felder, REO Speedwagon will kick its own concert tour into high gear with an April 8 concert at The Palace Theatre.
Guitarist Dave Amato said it’s their songs that keep the group going strong.
“The parents who grew up with the music now have kids in their 20s who come to the shows and know all the words. People always come up to me and say, ‘It’s so fun to come to see you guys because you always look so happy when you’re up there.’ The truth is that even after all of this time, we still genuinely like each other.”
The group’s 1980 album, “Hi Infidelity,” its ninth studio recording, featured four U.S. Top 40 hits, including “Keep on Loving You” and “Take It on the Run.” The album that spent 15 weeks at No. 1 is REO’s best-selling album, with more than 10 million copies sold.
REO Speedwagon has sold 22 million albums in the U.S. and 40 million world-wide, including gold and platinum records and international hit singles, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
In January, the rock band raised more than $350,000 from two benefit concerts held in Cronin’s home town of Thousand Oaks, Calif., to honor victims of two tragedies that took place there last November, a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and a destructive Woolsey wildfire.
