Beloved band’s plane once became target for feds, singer says: ‘So scary’
Guess they took it on the run .
A beloved band once purchased a private plane without realizing that it was being used for illicit activities .
It was Kevin Cronin — former lead singer of REO Speedwagon — who recounted this tale during a recent interview on " The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan ."
According to UltimateClassicRock.com , the band's star began to rise during the 1970s. It was around this time they figured they'd get a plane.
"We thought, 'My God, we're on the road all the time, we need an airplane,'" recalled Cronin. "So [record label executive] Irving [Azoff] is like, 'Okay, I'll find you a plane."
This plane ended up being a World War II-era Lockheed Lodestar plane, Cronin stated, complete with the REO Speedwagon logo. He added that its owner looked like "the bad guy from a western," and would pull stunts like shoot cows from the plane.
Oddly, the band started to notice people "surreptitiously taking photos" of them at the airport but dismissed them as simply being fans.
Then one day in Washington D.C., the band received a knock on their hotel door. A knock coming from people brandishing identification from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
"The page [they showed us had a] photo from the perspective of an unmarked vehicle," Cronin said. "Agents with their DEA windbreakers on. Down in the distance, there's the plane with the REO Speedwagon logo on the nose.
"It turns out, during our days off, they'd been taking the plane. We were their covers, basically. They were running guns from Mexico. The plane was found with no seats, full of bullets, pot and guns."
Seems like REO Speedwagon got off okay during this whole ordeal. Truly rolling with what life has to throw at them .
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Read the original article on pennlive.com .
