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Champaign, IL – REO Speedwagon rocked their hometown State Farm Center one last time on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in a farewell performance that spanned their long and storied career. The show was a reunion of past and present members, bringing together keyboardist and co-founder Neal Doughty, co-founding drummer Alan Gratzer, early vocalist Mike Murphy, longtime bassist Bruce Hall, early lead vocalist Terry Lutrell, and early guitarist Steve Scorfina.
The band took a poignant moment to honor absent friends and former bandmates, bassist Gregg Philbin, who died in 2022, and guitarist Gary Richrath, who died in 2015. Richrath’s son, Eric, traveled from Edinburgh, Scotland, to accept a commemorative plaque in honor of his father.
In an emotional moment, he addressed the crowd, saying, “I’m not going to sit up here and babble. We’ve got a lot of music to get to.
I think in this moment, my dad would probably say, ‘Let’s get back to the rock,’ so let’s do that.” He then joined the band onstage for a performance of “Ridin’ the Storm Out.”
In a recent interview, band members spoke fondly of Richrath and Philbin’s contributions to REO Speedwagon. Doughty praised Richrath’s guitar prowess, particularly on the song “Sing to Me,” while Hall and Gratzer lauded Philbin’s unique bass lines, highlighting his work on “Lost in a Dream.”
Noticeably absent from the farewell tour was longtime lead singer Kevin Cronin, whose departure in 2024 due to “irreconcilable differences” marked the beginning of the band’s final chapter. Bassist Bruce Hall, reflecting on the challenges, offered a message of hope to fans: “As hard as it’s all been for everybody, including me, don’t forget that love will cure you. I’m counting on that.”