Reo Speedwagon Biography

REO Speedwagon has enjoyed enormous success throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, and is still today regarded as an iconic band for the arena rock of the early 1980’s. REO Speedwagon’s first two albums enjoyed only moderate success, but when front man Mike Murphy joined the group, their single “Riding the Storm Out” was released in 1974 and was the first from REO Speedwagon to hit the Billboard 100 charts. Lost in a Dream followed, and This Time We Mean It came after in 1975.

In 1976 their original lead singer, Kevin Cronin, re-joined the group, and REO Speedwagon released REO. The album featured multiple hits which went gold or platinum. Live Again, in 1978, also had the gold hit “Nine Lives,” and Hi Infidelity was released in 1981 to become one of the best selling albums of that year. Singles such as “Don’t Let Him Go,” “Take it on the Run,” and “Keep on Loving You” brought  the album to more than nine million in sales. The group released additional albums throughout the next decade.  1982 brought Good Trouble, and Wheels are Turnin’ was released in 1984. Life As We Know It (1987) went gold, and singles such as “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Keep the Fire Burnin’” kept REO Speedwagon at the top of the charts.

REO Speedwagon continues to perform and record well into the new millennium, with the current lineup of Neal Doughty, Kevin Cronin, Bruce Hall, Dave Amato, and Bryan Hitt. Since 2000, the group has released multiple DVDs of their live performances, and in 2003 they toured alongside Journey and Styx for the Classic Rock’s Main Event Tour. In 2014, they teamed up with Chicago for a number of North American tour dates, and in 2016, REO Speedwagon toured alongside Def Leppard and Tesla. Most recently, REO Speedwagon toured the United States with Don Felder and Styx for the United We Rock Tour of 2017.