ReportWire

Tag: Kevin Cronin

  • REO Speedwagon Reunion?

    [ad_1]

    There are concerts you never forget. For me, it was earlier this summer at Pine Knob. Kevin Cronin came out with his band, still giving everything he’s got, still singing the songs that defined so many of our lives. The show itself was amazing — Kevin sounded strong, the crowd sang every word, and you could feel the love in the air. But walking into the venue and seeing the marquee that read Kevin Cronin Band instead of REO Speedwagon was a gut punch.

    It reminded me that my favorite band — the band that taught us how to ride the storm out and roll with the changes — wasn’t whole anymore. Bruce Hall was missing. Neal Doughty wasn’t there. Alan Gratzer wasn’t behind the kit. For a fan, that hurts. And it made me wonder if I’d ever see them truly together again.

    Fast-forward to last Saturday, and suddenly there’s a flicker of hope. At halftime of the Illinois-USC game in Champaign, four members of REO’s classic lineup reunited. Kevin Cronin, Neal Doughty, Alan Gratzer, and Bruce Hall — back together for the first time since 1988.

    Back on the very campus where REO Speedwagon first came together in 1967, they performed with the Marching Illini, ripping through “Ridin’ the Storm Out,” “Roll With the Changes,” and “157 Riverside Avenue.” Kevin introduced the songs while Bruce, Neal, and Alan played with the kind of spark that reminded everyone why these guys matter.

    To hear Kevin explain it in his TV interview made it even clearer:

    “REO Speedwagon has always stood for ‘we ride the storm out. We roll with the changes. We keep pushing.’ …So for the four of us to be here together, I think it sends a message to the fans that you overcome whatever you got to overcome in the service of them, the fans.”

    That’s the part that got me. Overcome whatever you got to overcome.

    Because let’s be real: Kevin tried to carry on as The Kevin Cronin Band, even touring with Styx and Don Felder this summer. He gave fans his all. But without Bruce, Neal, and Alan, it felt incomplete. And for their part, Bruce and Neal made it clear they didn’t want the REO name used without all of them. The result was silence, separation, and a sense of finality when they “hung up their wings” last year.

    But Saturday wasn’t silence. Saturday was music. It was laughter. It was REO Speedwagon, four-fifths of the band we grew up with, playing together again.

    Neal was cautious, saying only, “You never know.” Alan added, “We can’t read the future, the magic ball.” But for a fan like me, those aren’t closed doors — they’re cracks in the window, letting hope sneak in.

    And here’s the truth: our time on earth is limited. If there are fences to mend, mend them. If there are bridges to rebuild, build them. Gary Richrath is gone, and nothing can change that, but the rest of the guys are still here. They still have the power to bring joy to millions by being together again.

    So let this halftime show be the spark. Pine Knob this summer was a reminder of Kevin’s passion, but Champaign this fall was something more: proof that reconciliation is possible.

    Ethan Miller/Getty Images

    Champaign, Illinois

    I can only hope Kevin and Bruce patch things up, that Neal and Alan feel the pull again, and that somewhere down the road, the marquee doesn’t just say Kevin Cronin Band but REO Speedwagon.

    Because the music deserves it. The fans deserve it. And honestly — after all these years — so do they.

    Don’t let the wheels stop turning now.

    Jim O’Brien is the Host of “Big Jim’s House” Morning Show at 94.7 WCSX in Detroit. Jim spent eight years in the U.S. Naval Submarine Service, has appeared on Shark Tank (Man Medals Season 5 Ep. 2), raised over two million dollars for local charities and is responsible for Glenn Frey Drive and Bob Seger Blvd in the Motor City. Jim’s relationship with Classic Rock includes considering Bob Seger, Phil Collen from Def Leppard, Wally Palmer of the Romantics and many others good friends. Jim writes about ‘80s movies, cars, weird food trends and “as seen on TikTok” content.

    [ad_2]

    Jim O’Brien

    Source link

  • Today in History: October 6, the launch of Instagram

    Today in History: October 6, the launch of Instagram

    [ad_1]

    Today in History

    Today is Thursday, Oct. 6, the 279th day of 2022. There are 86 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Oct. 6, 1973, war erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday. (Israel, initially caught off guard, managed to push back the Arab forces before a cease-fire finally took hold in the nearly three-week conflict.)

    On this date:

    In 1536, English theologian and scholar William Tyndale, who was the first to translate the Bible into Early Modern English, was executed for heresy.

    In 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, a feature containing both silent and sound-synchronized sequences.

    In 1928, Chiang Kai-shek became president of China.

    In 1939, in a speech to the Reichstag, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler spoke of his plans to reorder the ethnic layout of Europe — a plan that would entail settling the “Jewish problem.”

    In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, in his second presidential debate with Democrat Jimmy Carter, asserted that there was “no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.” (Ford later conceded such was not the case.)

    In 1979, Pope John Paul II, on a week-long U.S. tour, became the first pontiff to visit the White House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter.

    In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade.

    In 2003, American Paul Lauterbur and Briton Peter Mansfield won the Nobel Prize for medicine for discoveries that led to magnetic resonance imaging.

    In 2010, social networking app Instagram was launched by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.

    In 2014, the Supreme Court unexpectedly cleared the way for a dramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States as it rejected appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans, effectively making such marriages legal in 30 states.

    In 2018, in the narrowest Senate confirmation of a Supreme Court justice in nearly a century and a half, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by a 50-48 vote; he was sworn in hours later.

    In 2020, President Donald Trump, recovering from COVID-19, tweeted his eagerness to return to the campaign trail and said he still planned to attend an upcoming debate with Democrat Joe Biden in Miami; Biden said there should be no debate as long as Trump remained COVID positive. (The debate would be canceled.)

    Ten years ago: Five terror suspects, including Egyptian-born preacher Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, widely known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, arrived in the United States from England and appeared in court in New York and Connecticut. (Mustafa was convicted in 2014 of supporting terrorist organizations.)

    Five years ago: The board of directors of The Weinstein Co. said movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was on indefinite leave from the company he founded amid an internal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a grassroots effort aimed at pressuring the world’s nuclear powers to give up those weapons, won the Nobel Peace Prize.

    One year ago: A federal judge ordered Texas to suspend a new law that had banned most abortions in the state since September. (An appeals court would reinstate the law two days later.) The Los Angeles City Council voted to enact one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates; it required the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms and even a Lakers game. The World Health Organization endorsed the world’s first malaria vaccine and said it should be given to children across Africa in the hope that it would spur stalled efforts to curb the spread of the parasitic disease; the vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline in 1987.

    Today’s Birthdays: Broadcaster and writer Melvyn Bragg is 83. Actor Britt Ekland is 80. The former leader of Sinn Fein (shin fayn), Gerry Adams, is 74. Singer-musician Thomas McClary is 73. Musician Sid McGinnis is 73. Rock singer Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) is 71. Rock singer-musician David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) is 68. Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dungy is 67. Actor Elisabeth Shue is 59. Singer Matthew Sweet is 58. Actor Jacqueline Obradors is 56. Country singer Tim Rushlow is 56. Rock musician Tommy Stinson is 56. Actor Amy Jo Johnson is 52. Actor Emily Mortimer is 51. Actor Lamman (la-MAHN’) Rucker is 51. Actor Ioan Gruffudd (YOH’-ihn GRIH’-fihth) is 49. Actor Jeremy Sisto is 48. Actor Brett Gelman is 46. R&B singer Melinda Doolittle is 45. Actor Wes Ramsey is 45. Actor Karimah Westbrook is 44. Singer-musician Will Butler is 40. Actor Stefanie Martini is 32.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Stars Align to Honor Frontline Health Workers and First Responders Who Died of Covid

    Stars Align to Honor Frontline Health Workers and First Responders Who Died of Covid

    [ad_1]

    Charity Pros for Heroes Virtual Fundraiser to Support the Children of Fallen Heroes

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Mar 31, 2021


    FORT MYERS, Fla., March 31, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Rosanne Cash, Lance Bass, Ziggy Marley and John Fogerty are just a few of the stars coming together to honor the front-line healthcare workers and first responders that died of Covid-19. The “Charity Pros for Heroes” live virtual event will salute the Heroes of the pandemic and raise funds to help provide educational scholarships and grant the children of the fallen heroes a special “Megan’s Wish”.

    “Every day, we learn of incredible stories of these children nationwide who are dealing with the effects of losing their parent,” explains Megan Maloney, founder of The Charity Pros. “These Heroes went to work every day during our darkest times of the pandemic and gave their lives while protecting us from the very fate they suffered, Covid-19.”

    Megan, a budding young philanthropist by day and food server by night, founded the Ft Myers non-profit just prior to the pandemic to advocate for children’s social causes and help provide kids opportunities for a better life. However, once the pandemic hit, Megan changed up the programming after the death toll started to rise. “My dad lost two friends in the first few months of the pandemic from Covid, including childhood friend, Naples firefighter Tony Christensen. “Tony’s funeral really hit my dad, I think it made it real for a lot of people, we knew then that we wanted to help make a difference.”

    Charity Pros for Heroes will honor those like Bryant, a firefighter from Converse, TX, that leaves behind his two small children and Tawauna, a nurse from Kettering, Ohio, that leaves behind six children and her newborn that she never got to hold. “It’s heartbreaking that many of these kids never got to say goodbye to their mother or father, their Hero,” continues Megan, “sadly despite all the fundraising, these kids have been forgotten, we need to help.”

    In a time when celebrities are being inundated with requests, the Charity Pros have been able to gather support of many artists. “We started emailing artist management and immediately had support, It’s just been a blessing how some managers have really embraced the cause,” adds Megan, “they share it with the artist and if there is passion, they support it, there is no better feeling, we are so grateful.”

    Sponsors of all levels can still get involved in the live virtual broadcast. A sponsor can co-host a segment, announce the next artist, or go live to present a check, contact megan@thecharitypros.org today.

    Charity Pros for Heroes will be broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook, April 6, 2021 at 8:30 EST, featuring special appearances from Rosanne Cash, Ziggy Marley, John Fogerty, Lance Bass, Kevin Cronin (REO), Kelly Hansen (Foreigner), Don Felder, Andy Grammer, Andrea Barber, Michael Franti, Tiera, Jawan M. Jackson, Danny Arroyo, Drew Baldridge, Ben Allen and more added daily.

    Source: The Charity Pros

    [ad_2]

    Source link