Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, REO Speedwagon released several hits, including 1980’s “Keep On Loving You,” off the band’s ninth album, Hi Infidelity.
The Kevin Cronin-penned track was highlighted on Ultimate Classic Rock‘s ranking of “Top 40 Soft Rock Songs,” coming in at the 27th spot. Other tunes from the soft rock genre included on the list were John Denver‘s “Annie’s Song” (1974), “Take It to the Limit” by the Eagles from 1975, Eric Clapton‘s 1991 tune, “Tears in Heaven,” and “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas from 1977. The publication gave the No. 1 ranking to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, released in 1977.
In a 2024 interview with Dan Rather, alongside his REO Speedwagon bandmates, Cronin discussed writing “Keep On Loving You.” According to the vocalist, he had a stroke of inspiration “in the middle of the night,” causing him to race down to his studio where he kept his piano. That night, he “pounded out the verses for ‘Keep On Loving You.'”
Cronin also said that he introduced the tune to the rest of REO Speedwagon the following day at the band’s rehearsals.
“The way our band works is the songwriter, whoever it is, whether any of us comes in with an idea and starts just kind of tinkering around with it at rehearsal, and the other guys are doing their thing and if it’s something that gets their attention, someone will pick up their instrument and start playing along,” said Cronin in the interview.
According to Cronin, his bandmates didn’t seem all that interested in the track. However, guitarist Gary Richrath, who died in 2015 at the age of 65, eventually started to play with Cronin.
“Finally Richrath grabbed a Les Paul guitar and plugged into this giant stack of Marshall amps and dialed in this gnarly, this real just rocking, like big sound,” said Cronin.
He also said that he knew that Richrath’s guitar playing was “exactly what this song needs.”
“It was at that moment that we, kind of, went, ‘Oh, we’ll take this love song, this tender love song or this emotional thing that’s a deep feeling for the writer, and put this giant band around it. And all of a sudden, it took the song from what could have been a Barry Manilow-type middle of the road ballad into a rock song,” said the musician, now 74.
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