Arts & Entertainment
REO Speedwagon Announces Retirement; Band Had Oak Lawn Roots
REO Speedwagon announced on Monday that they will cease touring at the end of 2024, citing "irreconcilable differences".
After almost 60 years, Illinois’ very own REO Speedwagon is retiring.
In a social media post on Monday, the group announced that they will cease touring effective January 1, 2025, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
Formed in Champaign, IL in 1967, REO Speedwagon has sold more than 40 million records while charting 13 Top-40 hits.
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REO’s Illinois roots don’t stop in Champaign.
The band’s lead singer, Kevin Cronin, grew up in Oak Lawn.
Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Oak Lawn’s 53rd Avenue (at 102nd Street) was named “Cronin Way” on the block that Kevin’s late parents, Ted and Mille, purchased their home on in 1957.
At this time, REO Speedwagon currently has two Illinois shows on their schedule for 2024.
The band will be in Bloomington, IL on November 9th and Rockford, IL on November 22nd.
Patch photojournalist and music photographer AJ Roccaforte has been capturing images of REO Speedwagon for Patch since 2013.
The band's last Chicagoland show was in Tinley Park on July 13th with Train. Click here for a photo gallery from that show.
