Last Call for REO Speedwagon in South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota

In the more than 55 years they've been in existence, REO Speedwagon has seen its share of infighting take its toll on the band.

After signing their first record deal in 1971, REO went through three lead singers on their first three albums, including longtime frontman Kevin Cronin, who left the band during the recording sessions for 1973's Ridin' the Storm Out because of internal conflicts.

Cronin returned to REO in January 1976 and has been leading them ever since.

The next big change in the band came in early 1989 when guitarist Gary Richrath left the band after a nearly 20-year stint because he and Cronin were butting heads creatively.

But the biggest blow has now come for REO Speedwagon.

It all began in November of 2023 when bassist Bruce Hall, a mainstay with the group since 1977, had back surgery which would require him to step away from touring while he recovered.

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Recently, Hall has been rather public about his intentions of rejoining the band, saying that he felt he was physically ready to tour again. The other members of the band disagreed about Hall's fitness which prompted him to post:

'The consensus feeling is that I don’t have good enough posture to perform at the level expected by our fans.'

That disagreement over Hall's status reached the boiling point Monday (September 16), prompting the band to announce that effective at the end of 2024, they would no longer be touring.

That means you have just a handful of chances to see REO in the Tri-State area before they hang it up for good.

The first opportunity is in Sioux Falls next month when the band headlines the 118^th Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Tuesday, October 15.

REO has one Iowa show left on their schedule, a November 8 date at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids.

Minnesota fans have two chances remaining to see REO in person.

The first is a November 19 show at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

The next night, November 20, REO closes out their Minnesota dates with a show at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

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REO has sold more than 40 million albums along the way.

The band first gained notoriety with a pair of Top 40 albums, You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish, and Nine Lives, in the late 1970s.

But it was the 80s that saw them become rock superstars. First with Hi Infidelity, which spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. album chart in 1981, thanks to four Top 40 singles. Fueled by the popularity of their videos on MTV, REO's next two albums, Good Trouble and Wheels Are Turnin', both landed in the Top Ten.

The band has hit the Top 40 pop singles chart 13 times and gone all the way to #1 twice with 'Keep On Loving You' and 'Can't Fight This Feeling'.

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