REO Speedwagon

Champaign to the top of the charts

REO Speedwagon took its name from an REO Speed Wagon truck, pronounced R-E-O. Neal Doughty and Alan Gratzer formed it at the University of Illinois in 1967 with Joe Matt and Mike Blair, and Irving Azoff, a university classmate, managed them early on. They signed to Epic in 1971 and changed vocalists on each of the first three albums; Kevin Cronin sang on R.E.O./T.W.O. (1972), was fired during the Ridin' the Storm Out sessions in 1973, and returned in 1976, with Mike Murphy singing in between. Gary Richrath had joined on guitar in 1970 and Bruce Hall replaced Gregg Philbin on bass in 1977, completing the line-up of Doughty, Gratzer, Richrath, Cronin and Hall that lasted until 1988. Live: You Get What You Play For (1977) went platinum and the band moved to Los Angeles; You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish (1978) was their first top 40 album.

Hi Infidelity (November 21, 1980) was the best-selling album of 1981 in the US and is RIAA Diamond. Good Trouble followed in 1982, and Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) brought a second number one, "Can't Fight This Feeling". They played Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985. Richrath and Gratzer left in 1988, with Graham Lear, Miles Joseph, Dave Amato and Bryan Hitt arriving over the following years. Building the Bridge (1996), made independently, had a title track used as Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign theme. Netflix's Ozark brought four songs back to the rock charts in 2020. Richrath died in 2015 and Gregg Philbin in 2022. Doughty retired from touring in 2023, and in September 2024 the band announced it would stop touring at year's end, citing irreconcilable differences, with a final show in December 2024. Champaign's Main Street was renamed REO Speedwagon Way.

Wikipedia counts over 40 million records sold, 13 top 40 hits and two number ones. One-off reunions took place in 2025 and 2026, with Cronin touring as the Kevin Cronin Band in 2025. Setlist.fm lists 3,331 setlists, with "Ridin' the Storm Out" played 1,140 times.