REO Speedwagon bassist Bruce Hall opened up about the band’s ongoing internal tensions and offered a hopeful glimpse at a possible reunion, in an interview shared on Kim Alexis.
Hall addressed the fallout within the band following his temporary departure. He also spoke about recent developments that suggest the classic lineup may come together once more to thank their fans.
“So, I left for a while and things changed. Let’s put it that way,” Hall said. “They got a substitute guy in there. And it became a problem. Became a big problem actually. But I can’t really talk about it too much because there’s lawyers and stuff involved. But anyway, the band kind of blew up. There’s details I can’t tell you.”
Hall went on to describe a tribute event held in Champaign, Illinois. The event brought together several original members and served as what he believed would be their final show.
“But anyway, things went down and but then I think what’s happening is there’s been some new reconsiderations happening,” he continued. “Well, for one, there was some friends back in Champagne, Illinois. We did a thing called the a tribute to the legacy of REO Speedwagon. Me and Neil Doughty, and Alan Gratzer, and Terry Luttrell, the original lead singer and Mike Murphy, one of the lead singers, we and with the help of the guys who of the entire community, the situation of Champagne and the radio stations.”
“It was this giant show. We put on and in the assembly hall there, State Farm Center and it was a big success. We raised a bunch of money for Moffitt Cancer Center, like 50 grand for them, too. It was a charity thing, but basically say I wanted to tell the fans and the people back home, thank you so much for letting me have this wonderful life. You know, if it hadn’t been for them, I couldn’t have done this by myself. I mean, I can play guitar all I want in a room in a house, but I got to have the audience in order. That’s who makes you.”
“So, anyway, that was for me, what I thought was going to be the very last show that we were going to play and Kevin wasn’t a part of that. He was out on the road doing something else.”
Hall then described a more recent gathering in Peoria, Illinois, held as a tribute to late guitarist Gary Richrath. The event notably included Kevin Cronin.
“Recently, we got some things. They just had a thing in Peoria, Illinois for Gary. It was a tribute to him and a m at the Riverside Museum. They put an exhibit in there with some of his guitars and pictures of him. Really nice. It turned out great,” Hall said. “And they wanted to have a nice opening sendoff tribute and asked if we would if I would come and I said sure. So Alan and Neil came and this time Kevin came too. And we played a couple songs for these folks that were there. And it seems to me like at least we’re starting to act like well the thing is if we could get the four of us together that’s how Gary’s gone of course but Neil and Alan and myself and Kevin and that’s the band that made all the records.”
Hall closed by expressing his primary motivation for any future performance — gratitude toward the fans.
“My biggest thing is I’d like to go out and tell the crowd thank you. That’s what I want to do for the fans,” he said. “I want to say thank you so much. This has been a great life. This is all I could ever wanted and it’s all because of you.”
The comments come after REO Speedwagon announced earlier in 2025 that they would no longer be touring, with reports of a disagreement involving Kevin Cronin. No official reunion has been announced at this time.
The breakdown of REO Speedwagon did not happen overnight. It was the result of a series of events that had been building for years before the band officially ceased touring on January 1, 2025.
The split was rooted in a dispute over Hall’s return to the road. Hall had missed the entirety of the band’s 2024 touring schedule while recovering from back surgery. When he sought to rejoin, Cronin reportedly did not believe Hall was ready to return to full touring duties. The two sides reached an impasse. Founder Neal Doughty, who had already retired from touring in 2023, sided with Hall in the vote. Cronin was left outvoted and, by his own account, blindsided by the decision to end the band. The group formally announced the split, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
Cronin did not step away from performing after the breakup. He continued touring under his own name, taking REO Speedwagon’s catalog on the road with his solo band. He joined Styx and former Eagles guitarist Don Felder on the Brotherhood of Rock Tour in the summer of 2025, keeping the music alive even as the band itself remained officially disbanded.
The first sign that the classic lineup could share a stage again came in September 2025. Cronin, Hall, Doughty, and original drummer Alan Gratzer reunited for a halftime performance at a University of Illinois homecoming game alongside the Marching Illini. It was the first time Cronin and his former bandmates had performed together since the split. The performance signaled that the personal wounds, while still present, were not entirely beyond repair.
That performance, combined with the Peoria tribute for Gary Richrath, appears to have opened a door that many fans had feared was permanently closed. Hall has since reached out to Cronin directly. While no formal plans have been confirmed, the conversations are ongoing. Whether those talks lead to a proper farewell show remains to be seen, but for the first time since the band’s bitter end, the possibility is no longer off the table.
