REO Speedwagon’s Bruce Hall clarified Kevin Cronin’s role in the band’s breakup.
The rocker left a comment under the news about Cronin’s words about the band’s future. Hall said no one forced Cronin to rebrand and explained why Cronin really left the band: “Get the facts straight please. He did not found this band. No one forced him to rebrand. He decided he wanted to tour with the sub bassist instead of me. The other two owners said ‘no’ and I was scheduled to return in 2025…so he quit. He and he alone did this. I wanted nothing more than to continue to tour after my scheduled, successful back surgery. I’ve been cleared to play since January,” he wrote.
Cronin and Hall’s relationship hasn’t been the best over the last few years. Hall even shared an offer earlier to fix the ‘ugly mess‘ between them. “I’ve worked really hard trying to do what I can to get back in there, talking to the people and all this stuff,” Hall said in an interview with Eubanks Reality Check. “Kevin’s the one who’s made up his mind. I’m trying to get him to change his mind for some reason, but what if this is going to be the end and it should be? I think we’ve done this a long time and we’re still capable of putting on a good show.”
“It’s time to say goodbye, it’s a farewell time and that would be the right way to end the band instead of like this,” he continued. “This is just an ugly mess and it’d be a perfect time to go out. It wouldn’t take maybe a year to hit all the good spots and say goodbye and thank you everybody for being so wonderful to take care of us this long. Then we could go home and KC could do whatever he wanted to do with his life after that, but the way he’s splitting like this now is not it’s not the right way to go.”
Hall joined the band in 1977 and played on their breakthrough album ‘You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish.’
REO Speedwagon’s final shows happened amid public tension, with ‘irreconcilable differences’ between Cronin and Hall, causing Hall to miss this year’s performances. The last show of the tour took place on December 21 at Las Vegas’ Venetian Theatre. However, the same exact band lineup will continue to tour next year, billed as Kevin Cronin.
