REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar to tour together

Two legendary rock voices, REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar, team up for their “LOVE ON THE RUN” co-headline summer tour. The first 20 dates of the cross-country tour have been announced today, along with the first on-sale date of Wednesday, February 24th for the Gilford, NH stop at US Cellular Pavilion. The tour will kick off at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT on June 24th.

“REO and Pat Benatar toured together in 1995 and we all had a blast. I ran into Neil Giraldo in the neighborhood last year, and we talked about getting the bands together again…so here we are,” said Kevin Cronin, lead singer of REO Speedwagon.

“Both REO and Pat Benatar share a history of hits, a family oriented approach, and a continuing desire to rock hard and have fun doing it. We embrace and take pride in our past achievements, while we are all about growing as artists and keeping our standards high. We intend to prove it every night on stage with the ‘Love On The Run’ tour.”

“I'm looking forward to touring with REO again,” said Pat Benatar. “It's been 15 years since the ‘Can't Stop Rockin'’ tour. These are a great bunch of people and it should be a blast for us as well as the audience."

“LOVE ON THE RUN” will bring the songs of these two historic rock bands to stages all across America. Their music will take fans back to their early ‘80s explosion onto the Billboard charts, where both artists enjoyed #1 and Top 10 positions for the better part of the decade; and will carry on through their career with music that continued to define their excellence in song craftsmanship and performance. Edwin McCain and Keaton Simons will each be joining these two legendary acts on various stops along the tour. Additional tour dates and on-sale dates will be announced shortly.

American Express Early On Sale opportunities will be available for most “LOVE ON THE RUN” tour dates.

REO Speedwagon has teamed up with I Love All Access on the “LOVE ON THE RUN” tour to offer the ultimate fan experience, which features a variety of VIP ticket packages, some of which include the chance to meet REO Speedwagon at their shows. For more details go to www.iloveallaccess.com.

“LOVE ON THE RUN” is dedicated to raising awareness about hunger among American school children by partnering with “Blessings in a Backpack,” a non-profit organization that provides weekend meals to school children in need.

During their recent “Can’t Stop Rockin Tour,” REO Speedwagon and Styx raised over $300k for school kids, helped to open 20 schools and helped feed nearly 4k children a weekend for a full year as a result of their partnership with Blessings in a Backpack.

Benatar and REO Speedwagon hope to add to these accomplishments and help more school children along this tour.

For more information, please go to www.blessingsinabackpack.com .

LOVE ON THE RUN Tour Dates:

Jun 24 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena On Sale 3/19
Jun 25 Rutland, VT Vermont State Fairgrounds On Sale TBD
Jun 26 Atlantic City, NJ Caesar’s Atlantic City On Sale 3/6
Jun 29 Vienna, VA The Filene Center On Sale TBD
Jul 1 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amphitheater On Sale 3/7
Jul 2 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre On Sale TBD
Jul 3 Orlando, FL Universal Studios Florida On Sale TBD
Jul 8 Lampe, MO Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre On Sale TBD
Jul 9 Memphis, TN Memphis Botanic Gardens On Sale TBD
Jul 10 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater On Sale TBD
Jul 11 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre On Sale TBD
Jul 15 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Council Bluffs On Sale 4/15
Jul 16 Walker, MN Moondance Jam Fairgrounds On Sale TBD
Jul 17 Red Wing, MN Treasure Island Resort & Casino On Sale TBD
Jul 18 Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion On Sale TBD
Jul 21 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheater On Sale TBD
Jul 23 Las Vegas, NV Thomas & Mack Center On Sale TBD
Jul 24 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre On Sale TBD
Jul 27 Saratoga, CA The Mountain Winery On Sale TBD
Jul 31 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre On Sale TBD
Aug 27 Gilford, NH US Cellular Pavilion On Sale 3/5

Additional dates and ticket on-sale information will be announced shortly. The following are the on-sale dates for the I Love All Access special packages: Uncasville on March 16th, Atlantic City and Gilford on March 3rd, Atlanta on March 4th, Council Bluffs on April 8th.

Kevin Cronin, lead singer and principle songwriter; bass player Bruce Hall; Neal Doughty, keyboard player and founding member; lead guitarist Dave Amato, and drummer Bryan Hitt, are REO Speedwagon. Since the release of their first record in 1971, the band has produced 17 critically acclaimed albums including the monumental 10 million seller, Hi Infidelity, had scored 13 Top 40 singles, including the Number One hits “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Keep On Loving You,” timeless classics including "Roll With The Changes", "Ridin' The Storm Out", "Take It On The Run", "Time For Me To Fly" and "Keep Pushin."

In 2009, they released Find Your Own Way Home, featuring the radio favorites “I Needed To Fall” and “Smilin’ In The End.” Most recently, they released a Christmas album Not So Silent Night with an REO production spin on the classics including “The First Noel,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Little Drummer Boy,” and “Happy Xmas (War is Over).” REO Speedwagon has sold more than 40 million albums to date.

More than three decades ago, Pat Benatar began breaking rules and blazed a new trial for female rock stars. Pat was bold, self-assured, and independent. She was alluring but not exploitive. She was vulnerable but not weak. She was strong-minded without being hardhearted. Songs such as “Love Is a Battlefield,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “We Live For Love,” and “Heartbreaker” became anthems for a new attitude.

At the dawn of MTV, Benatar was the image of the female rocker for an entire generation of young woman, and the young men who loved them. That generation has grown up with her and others have walked down the path she helped pave. Still going strong, Benatar has been married for 28 years to guitarist, songwriter producer, collaborator and soul mate Neil Giraldo . Pat and Neil have been touring almost non-stop for over three decades.

Benatar is acknowledged as the leading female rock vocalist of the ‘80s. During this time she was nominated nine times for Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance (female), winning an unprecedented four Grammy Awards in consecutive years from 1980 to 1983.

Benatar has also won three American Music Awards. Of the sixteen original and compilation albums released during her 30+ year career, seven were certified platinum and three were certified gold. One of the most popular performers in rock, she is also one of the most recognized and admired female artists.

For more information on REO Speedwagon, please visit the band’s official web page at
www.speedwagon.com

for more information on Pat Benatar, please visit her website at
www.patbenatar.com.