REO keeps pushin' after 3 decades of music

They are staples on every classic-rock radio station in the country. Between them, they have enough hit singles and platinum-selling albums to open their own record store.

On Saturday, three big names in rock, .38 Special, Styx and REO Speedwagon, will play the second-ever concert at Rio Tinto Stadium.

REO frontman Kevin Cronin spoke last week to the Deseret News by phone from a studio in California, where he said he was working on a "top secret" project he wasn't ready to reveal yet. The personable Cronin graciously took time out from his work (as well as putting his beloved Lakers on hold just as they were tipping off) to answer a few questions.

Cronin said he enjoys playing all venues, whether they're stadium or theater shows.

"There's pros and cons for all of them. When you're in a theater, you get a nice intimate feeling. But when you play a larger venue, there's nothing like standing up there. And with our kind of music, it's built for big rooms. I just like when it's full."

Cronin helped drive REO to its huge success in the 1970s and 1980s with anthems such as "Take It on the Run," "Keep on Lovin You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling."

Despite all of that success, he said he's still learning, even today, how to be a better vocalist.

"I enjoy (performing) more now than I ever have. I feel really fortunate that I'm still having fun and still doing what I love to do," Cronin said. "It's amazing. Having written those songs has brought me so much joy."

He still remembers REO's first show in Utah in 1972. The Illinois-based band, he admits, was a little worried about playing in the Beehive State, based on what they had heard about the stereotypes of the residents.

"There's going to be women in ankle-length dresses, everyone will be totally sober … we're going to get booed out of this place," he recalled was the worry. "But the people went crazy. They had the prettiest girls we've ever seen in our lives. We learned. We were happily surprised."

REO's songs have had a profound effect on people across the country. The band's ballads provided the soundtrack for many first and romantic kisses at dances and weddings ("Just don't call me if it doesn't work out," Cronin joked).

But sometimes, Cronin's songs have had an impact on people in ways he never could have imagined when he wrote them.