Gary Richrath

Early life Richrath was born in Peoria, Illinois, on October 18, 1949, to Curtis and Eunice Richrath, Originally playing saxophone in the school band, he took up guitar as a teenager, becoming self-taught. He graduated from East Peoria Community High School in 1967. In 1977, he and other members of the band took over production, which resulted in the band's first platinum album. Along with playing lead guitar, Richrath sang lead vocals on "Find My Fortune" (1973), "Wild as the Western Wind" (1974), "Dance" (1975), "Any Kind of Love" (1976), "Only a Summer Love" (1976), "Breakaway" (1976) and "Tonight" (1976).

Solo career, later years, and occasional one-off reunions with REO Speedwagon Richrath left the band in 1989. Shortly after his departure, Richrath assembled a namesake band, Richrath. The band Richrath released the album Only the Strong Survive in 1992 . Richrath stayed on stage to help with the encore of "With a Little Help from My Friends" along with REO Speedwagon, Styx, Richard Marx and others. Families affected by the storm and first-responders sat near the stage at this concert.

Death Richrath died on September 13, 2015, with news of his death confirmed by his former REO Speedwagon bandmate Kevin Cronin. He was 65 years old. Speaking to the Songfacts website in 2017, Cronin disclosed the cause of Richrath's death: "He had some stomach problem or something and he went in the hospital to get treated for a stomach ailment and there were complications and he didn't make it."

Discography with Richrath Only the Strong Survive (1992)

with REO Speedwagon R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971) R.E.O./T.W.O. (1972) Ridin' the Storm Out (1973) Lost in a Dream (1974) This Time We Mean It (1975) R.E.O. (1976) Live: You Get What You Play For (1977) You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish (1978) Nine Lives (1979) Hi Infidelity (1980) Good Trouble (1982) Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) Life as We Know It (1987) The Hits (1988) (2 new songs: "I Don't Want to Lose You", "Here with Me")