Long before REO Speedwagon became one of rock's biggest arena acts, co-founder Neal Doughty was simply a college engineering student inspired by the British Invasion.
Doughty, who turns 80 on July 29, helped found REO Speedwagon in 1967 and remained the band's only member to appear on every studio album through its retirement. Along the way, he became known for his Hammond organ work on "Roll with the Changes," his pioneering use of the Minimoog synthesizer on "Ridin' the Storm Out" and the piano parts that helped define the band's signature sound.
Looking back on the band's beginnings, Doughty credited one group above all others.
"The Beatles had made every kid in the world want to be in a rock and roll band," he told Illinois Alumni Magazine in 2025. "Once we decided that we were going to start a band together, it was just so exciting that we were actually doing it. I'd never done anything like this."
The band's famous name also came from Doughty.
While searching for something to call the fledgling group, he walked into an engineering class and noticed "REO Speedwagon" written across the blackboard.
"I told the guys that night and they all loved it. It was the only name we ever considered," he said.
Their first gig hardly foreshadowed the success to come. Doughty recalled arriving at the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house only to discover the walls covered in paper before an all-out food fight erupted.
"They had the whole dining room—all the walls—covered with brown paper. Our stage was a bunch of tables stuffed together, and they had invited a sorority to dinner. But what the sorority didn’t know was that they were gonna break into a food fight!" said Doughty. "And that explained the paper that was hanging all around the walls. They just started throwing food around, and I remember it took Alan about a week to get all the mashed potatoes out of his drums ... but the good was, we did get paid $40."
After more than a decade of touring, REO finally broke through with Hi Infidelity, one of the biggest-selling rock albums of the 1980s. Surprisingly, Doughty admitted that fame itself wasn't something he enjoyed.
"I hated it," he told Goldmine Magazine in 2013. "I am such a low-profile person … I am just the last person in the world who wants to be famous. I like it onstage that people consider us a big band, but in my private life I am really just as low-profile of a person as you can imagine."
Instead, Doughty always remained focused on the music.
"We're still trying to play better than we did the night before," he said in that 2013 interview when he was still touring with the band. "We focus on the quality of our playing … there is nothing better than just trying to play better than you did the night before."
That dedication is evident throughout REO Speedwagon's catalog. Beyond his unforgettable organ solo in "Roll with the Changes," Doughty also wrote or co-wrote several songs for the band, including "One Lonely Night," which reached the Billboard Top 20, while his Minimoog synthesizer introduced the dramatic opening of "Ridin' the Storm Out" and his improvisational keyboard work became a defining feature of concert favorite "157 Riverside Avenue."
In fact, the band went so far as to call him a "virtuoso" on that track, writing on its website, "'157 Riverside Avenue,' the oldest track still in the REO live set, owes a great deal to Neal’s virtuoso improvisation."
Eight decades after he was born, Neal Doughty remains one of classic rock's quiet architects, proving that sometimes the musicians behind the keys leave just as lasting a mark as the stars standing at center stage.
Related: Retiring Original Lead Singer Rejoins '70s Rock Icons for New Version of Iconic Hit
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