{"id":426255,"date":"2026-01-24T03:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/426255\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T03:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:09:10","slug":"kevin-cronin-says-reo-speedwagon-became-an-impossible-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/426255\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Cronin Says REO Speedwagon Became an ‘Impossible Situation’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Cronin<\/a> has detailed the events that led to REO Speedwagon<\/a>\u2019s eventual breakup.<\/p>\n

During a recent appearance on Billy Corgan<\/a>‘s The Magnificent Others<\/a> podcast, Cronin noted how things began to change during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started kind of reassessing some things. And I started wanting to reach further,\u201d the singer explained. \u201cI was wanting a little more. And not necessarily outside the band. I wanted to lift the band in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cronin started seeing a vocal coach and began working on his craft like never before.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Top 10 REO Speedwagon Songs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI really started putting in 10,000 hours on my voice,\u201d the frontman recalled. \u201cSo when the band got back together after the pandemic, I was psyched. And some of the guys in the band shared that excitement and some of the guys didn’t. And so it became a little bit of a, like, wait a minute, what’s going on here? You know? And so there was a little bit of a chasm opening within the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, it wasn\u2019t until 2023 that thing really started to come apart.<\/p>\n

Kevin Cronin Insists He Has ‘No Ill Feelings’ Towards Bruce Hall<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been working on a presentation for the band, for a Las Vegas residency, which has to be different than what you do on tour,\u201d Cronin explained. \u201cSo the idea was to perform the entire Hi Infidelity record all the way through with a massive audio visual presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

When bassist Bruce Hall injured his back before the residency\u2019s start, it threw a wrench in REO Speedwagon\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Bruce hurt himself, it was a week before we were supposed to open in Vegas,\u201d Cronin recalled. \u201cAnd I put a year of work into this and people buy tickets from all over the world to come in for a residency. And so I didn’t want to lose the residency. And I said, \u2018Bruce, you’ve got to go home, take care of yourself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Even without Hall, Cronin was insistent that the residency would continue as planned. \u201cI just was, if there’s a way to salvage this thing, I’m going to salvage it.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: How REO Speedwagon Started a New Chapter With ‘Hi Infidelity’\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Cronin recruited Elton John<\/a>\u2019s bassist Matt Bissonette to fill in during the residency. The singer felt a \u201cnew energy\u201d within the band during these shows, but it also splintered the relationship with Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Bruce and I think he might feel like I was out to get him,\u201d Cronin conceded. \u201cI’ve heard that from people, that there’s a feeling there and it’s just not the case at all. I hold no ill feelings toward him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Cronin felt it was his job to \u201ckeep REO Speedwagon moving forward,\u201d the rift with Hall was too much to handle. \u201cIt just became an impossible situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

What’s Happening With REO Speedwagon Now?<\/p>\n

REO Speedwagon officially ceased touring on Jan. 1, 2025. Cronin has continued to perform the group\u2019s hits with his solo band, and the classic REO lineup (minus the late Gary Richrath), reunited in September 2025 for a special performance<\/a> alongside the University of Illinois Marching Illini. Still, there are no plans for an official REO Speedwagon reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that REO Speedwagon would ride into the barn [together],\u201d Cronin admitted, reflecting upon the group’s history. “We would all retire at the same time as friends, the crew would be with us\u2026 It just didn’t, it didn’t work out that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

REO Speedwagon Albums Ranked<\/p>\n

REO Speedwagon’s catalog and career have been marked by dizzying highs and big setbacks.\u00a0Here’s a ranked look back.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Cronin has detailed the events that led to REO Speedwagon\u2019s eventual breakup. During a recent appearance on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,3],"class_list":["post-426255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}