Kevin Cronin, who grew up in Oak Lawn, says he wrote many of REO Speedwagon's best-known songs in Chicago. On Sunday night, the city hosted his induction into the Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Joliet-based hall held its induction ceremony for the first time in the Loop, at the Harris Theater at Millennium Park. Its 2023 ceremony was at the Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet, as previously reported. The setting suited artists who say the city is behind some of their biggest hits.
Cronin, REO Speedwagon's songwriter and lead vocalist, said he wrote "I Can't Fight This Feeling" in his apartment at 5100 Marine Drive and also wrote "In My Dreams" in Chicago. He wrote "Keep Pushing," he said, while walking down a Chicago street "at a low point," when he started singing the title line.
Chicago has changed since he lived there, Cronin said, and it's "great to see the progress" along with the things that have stayed the same.
Also inducted were The Plain White T's of Lombard, the band behind "Hey There Delilah"; Koko Taylor, the Queen of the Blues; radio personality Terri Hemmert; radio station WDRV The Drive; The American Breed, a 1960s hitmaking band from Brookfield; the jazz-rock band The Flock; the biker bar band The Boyzz; and Survivor. The artists said the night was a chance to come together in camaraderie.
Jim Peterik, who was the singer and guitarist for The Ides of March, known for "Vehicle," went on to found Survivor, best known for "Eye of the Tiger," the theme song of "Rocky III," starring Sylvester Stallone. Peterik said he didn't expect the song to become a timeless anthem at first. He and co-writer Frankie Sullivan knew they had "something big," he said, and sent it to Stallone.
"You guys just wrote a song that is going to outlive you and me," Peterik recalled Stallone telling them.
His response, Peterik said, was "Whatever, Sly." That was 1982, he said, and "now in 2026, he was right."
The ceremony is the Hall of Fame's largest fundraising event, supporting preservation work, exhibits and education programs.
