Kevin Cronin recently explained why, despite having the same lineup as their last tour and continuing to perform the band’s songs, they decided to drop the REO Speedwagon name for the upcoming 2025 tour.
“I wish it was a simple answer, but you know how it is. Sh-t happens in bands, especially bands that have been together as long as we have,” the vocalist started in a new chat on ‘Trunk Nation.’ “There had been a little trouble brewing internally, and then Bruce [Hall] needed to get surgery on his back, which we all supported. We figured that he would be out for a few months, but there were shows that we had to do. So, we called our buddy, Matt Bissonette, to sub in.”
“We were lucky that Matt just had gotten off the road with Elton John,” Cronin noted before sharing that Hall initially planned to return on March 1 but did not. “Then, he was supposed to come back on June 1, and then, I understood through an attorney that Bruce had chosen to sit out the 2024 tour as long as he got paid in full as if he was touring. That’s we did, and that’s what he accepted. And 2024 was an amazing year. We toured with Train and with Loverboy and with Rick Springfield. It was probably the most successful year we had in 30 years.”
He said a strong chemistry grew among the band members during the 2024 trek. “Dave Amato has been with us for 35 years. Same thing with Brian Hitt on drums, Derek Hilland, who played in Whitesnake for a minute, and Rick Springfield that took over keyboards when Neal retired.”
Cronin initially planned for Hall to be part of the tour but had to adjust when he didn’t return. Eventually, he abandoned the REO Speedwagon name after receiving backlash over Hall’s absence. “The five of us just felt really good, but at the same time, I was working on a setlist where it would be a six piece band. So that Bruce could’ve come back. Matt would’ve stay just to be sure that touring wasn’t [affected], that Bruce was up for it,” the singer explained.
“I had Bruce and Matt switching off between bass and acoustic guitars, but then I heard that Bruce was going to sit out the whole tour, and I never heard anything different. What I heard has been circulated online or whatever that I somehow prevented Bruce from touring and from coming out on the road last year. That’s just inaccurate. It’s just not the truth. So, I had no right to do that. So, that’s where we stand right now.”
When criticism surfaced, Cronin denied the accusations that he purposefully kept Hall out of the shows and said he hated how everything played out online. However, the bassist’s statements in December supported the claims. “They didn’t want me to play,” he told Ultimate Classic Rock. “They were kind of happy with what they had going.”
“[He] didn’t like my posture,” he added. “He kept coming up with reasons… and it became apparent that he didn’t want me coming back –and why exactly, I couldn’t tell you.”
Both Hall and Neal Doughty expressed a desire to do a proper farewell tour with REO Speedwagon before Cronin moved on with his solo career.
Cronin announced a 40-show trek titled The Brotherhood of Rock for next summer. Styx will accompany him and his band on the road, starting on May 28 in Greenville, South Carolina.
