Terry Luttrell, the former REO Speedwagon singer, was injured in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel. The 78-year-old musician spoke to the News-Gazette on Tuesday, June 17, about the incident, which occurred while he was driving to St. Louis for business on Interstate 57. He admitted to being up until 4:30 a.m. following a REO Speedwagon concert at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois, attending an afterparty and signing autographs.
“It just happened,” Luttrell told the News-Gazette. “I nodded off. I rolled the car over, and I woke up, and I was in a cocoon. Unfortunately, it totaled the car.”
The “cocoon” referred to the car’s airbags, which deployed on impact and cracked Luttrell’s sternum. He is currently recovering at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana and expects to remain there for a few days.
“I was able to get up and get out of the car,” Luttrell recalled. “I have a little back pain and neck pain. It’s nothing that can’t be overcome.”
Upon his arrival at the hospital, Luttrell discovered that some nurses were fans who had attended the previous night’s concert. The performance at State Farm Center was a special reunion show marking REO Speedwagon’s decision to stop touring after 2024 due to “irreconcilable differences” among members. Luttrell, who left the band in 1972 and was replaced by Kevin Cronin, returned as frontman for the event.
“It was exactly what we thought it was going to be,” he told the News-Gazette. “It was a one-off concert that will never happen again. To say that you were there was a pretty big thing.”
Luttrell joined REO Speedwagon in 1968 and left after four years, reportedly due to personal issues with guitarist Gary Richrath. Cronin replaced him and later helped the band achieve major hits, including No. 1 singles “Keep On Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”
Cronin did not attend the reunion show on Saturday, June 14. On Facebook, he stated that he would have liked to attend but was unable due to prior engagements with his own band in Oregon.
Cronin was also the only remaining REO band member who wanted to continue touring. However, he was outvoted by bassist Bruce Hall and keyboardist Neal Doughty, leading to the decision to stop touring and dissolve the band due to conflicts between Hall and Cronin.