UPDATE: REO Speedwagon Champaign Concert Rescheduled For Nov. 10th
Rock band REO Speedwagon has set November 10 as the new date for its Champaign concert — one of several January and February dates the band postponed for singer Kevin Cronin's treatment for what he describes as a non-life-threatening condition.
The postponements mean REO Speedwagon will not be performing February 8 at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, the town where the band got its start. The Champaign Park District says all tickets sold for the original February 8 date will be honored for the November 10 concert. Ticket-buyers who are unable to attend the new concert date will be offered a full refund. The Park District says they should contact the Virginia Theatre box office at 217-356-9063.
An REO show planned for this weekend at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet has been moved to March 8. A January 24 concert at Rockford’s Coronado Performing Arts Center has been rescheduled for September 30, according to the center's Facebook page.
In a statement on the REO Speedwagon website, the 66-year-old Cronin says he’ll be undergoing a routine procedure that “is so simple it can be performed by a robot.”
“My doctor says I will be good as new,” Cronin wrote in his website statement. “I am deeply disappointed that I have to ask the greatest fans in rock ’n roll to change their plans. All I can do is ask for your understanding and I truly appreciate your support.”
((This article, first posted on Jan. 17, was revised to include the new date for REO Speedwagon's concert at the Virginia - JM 1/19/18))