“Keep On Loving You” by REO Speedwagon

"Keep On Loving You" is the ballad that finally put REO Speedwagon over the top, a Kevin Cronin song from their 1980 album Hi Infidelity on Epic. Cronin wrote and arranged it, plays acoustic guitar and sings backing vocals alongside Tom Kelly and Richard Page, while Neal Doughty's Hammond organ, Bruce Hall's bass and Alan Gratzer's drums hold the floor. The real sting comes from Gary Richrath's lead guitar, which turns a heartfelt confession into something with muscle.

Kevin Beamish produced it with Cronin and Richrath, Gratzer co-producing. It was the first REO single to crack the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, and it went on to spend a week at number one there in March 1981, went platinum and reached number seven in the UK. It has been a staple of '80s soft rock compilations ever since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.