Chicago & REO Speedwagon Plot Summer Co-Headline Adventure

Anna C. Jones – Chicago
Chicago takes over the Concert Hall At The BJCC in Birmingham, Ala., Nov. 3.

Get ready for evenings filled with hits like “Beginnings,” “Saturday In The Park,”  and “25 or 6 to 4” along with chartbusters such as “Keep On Loving You” “Time For Me To Fly” and “Roll With The Changes” when Chicago and REO Speedwagon combine forces for a summer co-bill.

Inducted into the 2016 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Chicago’s first album, Chicago Transit Authority, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.  Founding members Robert Lamm and James Pankow are inductees of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017.  The band’s trophy shelf includes two Grammys, several American Music Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.  Sales-wise, the group has accrued 47 gold and platinum albums, 21 Top 10 singles, five consecutive No. 1 albums, 11 No. 1 singles and five gold singles. 

The upcoming tour will include Chicago playing its second album from start to finish, followed by what the band has been calling “the world’s longest encore” filled with the group’s hits. Nominated for three Grammys, Chicago II includes “Colour My World” and “Make Me Smile” in the longform piece “Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon.”

Scott Legato / Getty Images – REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin and Bruce Hall get close to the crowd at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich., July 25.

While Chicago’s moniker tells you where the band originally was from, REO Speedwagon’s roots are also in Illinois, specifically University of Illinois, Champaign, where the band was formed in 1967.  Signed to a label in 1971, REO Speedwagon toured incessantly during the  years leading to the group’s mega-selling Hi Infidelity album that spent 15 weeks at the No. 1 slot and snagged the RIAA’s 10X Diamond Award for sales surpassing 10 million in the U.S.

Of the nearly 1,000 shows reported to Pollstar’s Box Office department through the years, Chicago has grossed an average $217,000 per show for a total gross of $193,613,986.

Box office results for REO Speedwagon are also impressive, with nightly grosses averaging approximately $171,049 per gig, making for a total gross just over $91.5 million.

Presales begin this week and general onsales launch Feb. 9.  Click here for Chicago’s Pollstar page and here for REO Speedwagon’s home on the Concert Hotwire.