REO SPEEDWAGON Keyboardist / Founding Member NEAL DOUGHTY Announces Retirement From Touring
January 4, 2023, a year ago
After 55 years with REO Speedwagon and having spent his entire adult life on the road, keyboardist and founding member Neal Doughty has decided the time was right to retire from touring and begin enjoying the fruits of his years of hard work.
"I want everyone to know that it was all that traveling that finally got to me,” Neal explains, “I always enjoyed playing the shows and looking out to see all the loyal fans who allowed me to do this for so long.”
“Neal will always be a member of the REO brotherhood," says bassist Bruce Hall, “and we all wish him well as he enters this exciting phase of his life.”
REO Speedwagon will continue as the unstoppable touring machine the fans have come to expect, with fifty-plus shows already on the books for 2023.
Doughty may join them on select concert stops. “It will be a big change to look around and not see Neal behind the keyboards,” says singer Kevin Cronin, “and we will miss his quick wit and interesting conversation on those long bus rides. But this is what Neal needs, and we support him.”
