“People have used it as their wedding song. I often think, ‘Hey, did you listen to the lyrics?’”: The classic number one hit with a sting in its tail

REO Speedwagon in 1981.

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Best of 2024: In 1981, Illinois-based rock band REO Speedwagon hit the top of the US chart with the power ballad Keep On Loving You. But if the sound of that song was smooth, it was a classic case of an iron fist in a velvet glove.

Keep On Loving You was written by singer Kevin Cronin, and as he recalled in an interview with Classic Rock, the rest of the band didn’t think much of the song on first listen.