UPDATE TO BELOW STORY......
REO Speedwagon is canceling their tour! Apparently this big cancellation bubbled up after bassist Bruce Hall faced a delayed return to the stage. Hall was supposed to return to the stage as soon as possible, following a back surgery, but…it just didn’t happen. "Bruce has intended to be back on the road again by now. If it were up to just him, he’d be back on tour…but it's not up to just him. The consensus opinion was that he had not recovered sufficiently to be able to perform at the level the fans have come to expect,” the band shares in a statement. “Due to this complex situation…it is with great sadness that we announce REO Speedwagon will cease touring effective January 1, 2025.” Check out the full statement on the right.
This news comes two days after Cronin announced the reason REO pulled out of the last two shows of their summer tour with Train is because he underwent undisclosed emergency surgery.
He says, "It was a complete success. I am on the mend and will be up and rockin’ as soon as the good docs here say it’s okay. Until then, I am 100% focused on recuperating.
"Meanwhile, lying here tethered to various beeping machines makes a guy think. I have had plenty of free time this past week to appreciate the love in the eyes of my wife and kids, as they have gathered around me here every single day. I have so much more life to live, and have re-examined what I want to do with the rest of my time here, and who I want to be surrounded by while I do it. I need to be lifted by those around me, and in return, to lift them. I feel excited at the prospect of creating and playing the best music I have in me, with the best artists, musicians and people who will have me. And I promise to continue giving my best, and appreciating the gift of music which has allowed me this life.
"Your unwavering support means the world to me."
Check out the original post about it here from REO's official Instagram page.
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REO Speedwagon bassist Bruce Hall seems to be getting the runaround from the band in regard to his return to the road.
Having undergone back surgery last November, he wrote on Facebook in June that it was his "intention to be back on the road again by now for sure. I'm feeling better every day and have been cleared by my doctor to perform. If it were up to just me, I'd be there...but it's unfortunately not. The consensus feeling is that I don't have good enough posture to perform at the level expected by our fans...
"Trust me, I have no intention of retiring or walking away from the band I have loved for almost 50 years..."
And now, Hall's daughter Sara has weighed in, calling the whole situation BS. She says, "HE’S HEALTHY AND READY TO GO!! And has been for some time now.
"Unfortunately, the business is businessing and people’s egos are getting the best of them. At this point some of the so-called powers that be won’t let him back out due to not being able to 'stand up straight enough' OR because a certain someone now just wants to play with the stand-in guy instead of the actual member of the band.
"It’s absolutely [crap] if you ask me. My dad has poured his entire life into his craft and this band just to be told he can’t play or be on stage anymore because of how tall he can stand? What a joke. Another reason as to why I love the music but hate the business. I mean, it’s not like [the band members] are doing too many laps around the stage or jumping off speakers at this point in their career. All in all, just know that he COULD and SHOULD be on that stage."
A spokesman for the band has not responded to our request for comment.
The band is on tour this summer with Train with Matt Bissonette from Elton John's band filling in.
Last November, when Hall stepped aside, singer Kevin Cronin said, "Bruce is our brother -- and times like these test us all. We have faith that Bruce's surgery will be successful, that he will make a complete recovery, and that he will be back to being the hard-rocking bassist/singer that we all know."
Hall joined REO in 1977.
Check out the original posts about it here and here from Bruce and also his daughter Sara's Instagram accounts.