Whatever Happened to REO Speedwagon?

REO Speedwagon played a meaningful role in one of music television’s biggest turning points. When MTV officially launched on August 1, 1981, at 12:01am, the channel promised something entirely new: music videos around the clock. REO Speedwagon’s “Take It on the Run” was the ninth video ever aired on MTV and the first concert video the network ever broadcast.

At a time when most early videos were staged or concept-driven, REO’s clip placed viewers directly inside a live performance. Kevin Cronin stands front and center while guitarist Gary Richrath delivers the song’s emotional guitar lines.

By then, the band was already riding the enormous success of Hi Infidelity, released in late 1980. The album produced multiple Top 40 hits and went on to sell more than ten million copies in the United States. Throughout the early and mid ’80s, REO became one of the defining arena rock bands of the era, scoring additional hits with songs like “Keep the Fire Burnin'” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” and appearing at major events including Live Aid. As the decade closed, lineup changes and shifting musical tastes slowed their chart momentum. Richrath and drummer Alan Gratzer both departed by the end of the 1980s. While later albums did not match earlier commercial success, REO Speedwagon never stepped away from the road. Instead, they leaned into touring, becoming a fixture of classic rock radio and summer amphitheaters.

In the 2000s, the band continued to evolve. They released the self-financed album Find Your Own Way Home in 2007, which produced Adult Contemporary charting singles despite not charting as an album. REO toured consistently, frequently teaming up with Styx and other classic rock bands. In 2009, they released a Christmas album and even ventured into digital territory with an online video game, an unusual move that drew attention at the time. Hi Infidelity received a Diamond Award in 2017, and the band was inducted into the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum Hall of Fame in 2021. Their music also found new audiences through television, with appearances in Ozark and Cobra Kai bringing songs like “Take It on the Run” back onto the charts decades later.

Sadly, bandmate Richrath died in 2015, followed by bassist Gregg Philbin in 2022. In 2023, original member Neal Doughty retired from touring after more than five decades. Health issues and internal differences led to the announcement that REO Speedwagon would stop touring at the end of 2024, and the band retired its name that December. However, one-off reunions in Champaign and at the University of Illinois brought members back together onstage in 2025, honoring their legacy.

REO Speedwagon Is Retiring Their Name, They Will Now Be Billed As Kevin Cronin

But is the band hanging it up?

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1980s Music Videos

March 2026

The hair was big, the tunes were loud and video was king! Look back to when 1980s Music Videos Ruled!

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