CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Champaign’s very own REO Speedwagon is set to return to the U of I campus during Homecoming festivities, and a familiar face is returning to the lineup.
Members of the chart-topping classic rock band will serve as grand marshals of the Homecoming parade on Sept. 26. Longtime lead singer Kevin Cronin will be joining Alan Gratzer, Neal Doughty and Bruce Hall for the festivities. Cronin was not present for the group’s last show back in June at the State Farm Center.
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The band members will also be featured guests during the football gameday events on Sept. 27.
The parade is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26 at the corner of Fourth Street and Kirby Avenue, heading west on Gregory Drive and turning south on First Street. A post-parade party featuring food, music and fireworks will take place in Lot 31 after the parade.
At the Illinois vs. USC football game on Sept. 27, the band members will participate in the traditional sounding of the air raid siren and will take the field with Barry Houser and the Marching Illini to collaborate on an REO Speedwagon-themed halftime show that will feature a medley of the band’s hit songs.
“I’m honored to be invited to Illinois Homecoming weekend,” Gratzer said. “Champaign will always be a special place for me after going to school there, founding REO and meeting my wife, Nancy, on campus. I’m still not sure why she left the doctoral program to move to California with a rock drummer. I have so many great memories from my college days at the U. of I. and can’t wait to hear the Marching Illini playing REO songs.”
The band formed at U of I in 1967 after founding members Doughty and Gratzer met during their first week of classes in 1966 and started playing music together in their rooms in Illinois Street Residence Hall.
“Returning to campus for this event is really special for me because I was a proud member of the Belleville High School marching band and loved that experience,” Doughty said. “I was a pretty decent trumpet player but never would have reached the level of the Marching Illini. I have nothing but respect for what they do, and I know how hard they work. It will be a thrill to play alongside them.”
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