REO Speedwagon singer injured in car crash after falling asleep behind wheel

Terry Luttrell, 78, was hospitalized after suffering a cracked sternum and other injuries

Singer Terry Luttrell, the former frontman of rock bands REO Speedwagon and Starcastle, is recovering from a car accident he got into after falling asleep behind the wheel.

Luttrell, 78, was driving on Interstate 57 Sunday morning in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where he had been the previous night performing a concert in honor of REO Speedwagon’s legacy at the State Farm Center.

“It just happened,” Luttrell told local paper The News-Gazette of the crash. “I nodded off. I rolled the car over, and I woke up and I was in a cocoon (the airbags). Unfortunately, it totaled the car.”

While he was “able to get out of the car,” he didn’t make it out entirely unscathed, noting that when the airbag went off, it “cracked my sternum a little bit.”

“I have a little back pain and neck pain. It’s nothing that can’t be overcome,” he said.

Former REO Speedwagon frontman Terry Luttrell totaled his car Sunday morning (Facebook)

Hours before the accident, Luttrell spent Saturday night at an after-party for the show, signing autographs for fans. “It was just sign-sign-sign,” he said.

He didn’t end up leaving the party for his hotel until 2 a.m., where he was greeted by another group of fans requesting autographs.

It wasn’t until 4:30 a.m. that he finally went to bed. A few hours later, he began his drive to St. Louis for business.

While driving, he remembered feeling “a little bit sleepy,” but thought he would be fine.

Following the accident, he was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital, where he is expected to stay for the next few days doing rehab.

Reflecting on the special farewell show, Luttrell said: “Everybody (in the band) was excited. It was just a fun evening.

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“It was exactly what we thought it was going to be. It was a one-off concert that will never happen again. To say that you were there was a pretty big thing.”

Luttrell is best known for his time with REO Speedwagon. He joined the “Can’t Fight This Feeling” band in 1968, replacing lead vocalist Mike Blair.

He remained with the group until 1972, singing on their self-titled 1971 debut album. He was replaced by Kevin Cronin.

The “Keep on Loving You” band, made up of Cronin, Neal Doughty, Bruce Hall, Dave Amato, Bryan Hitt, and Matt Bissonette, announced in September 2024 that they would cease touring in 2025, citing “irreconcilable differences” between Cronin and bass guitarist Hall.

Luttrell went on to sing with the rock band Starcastle, featuring on their first four albums before they went on a 10-year hiatus.