He is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor born in Detroit,
Michigan, growing up in Royal Oak
Michigan.He began his
interest in music by starting piano lessons when he was five years old,
which he continued with until he approached his teenage years.After
becoming acquainted with The
Beatles
in 1964 he decided the guitar was for him and threw himself into
learning the instrument.He started his career in the late
1960s when he was a member of the group The Mushrooms who released
the single "Such a Lovely Child", produced by Bob
Seger
.He then went on to join
Four of Us and later formed The Heavy Metal Kids and The
Subterraneans.In 1968 he performed background
vocals and guitar for Bob
Seger
on "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" and they would later
collaborate on songwriting.Moving to California, he formed
the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle in 1969 in Los Angeles with J.D.
Souther
who showed him the way of performing country
music and they proceeded to land a recording contract and release a
self-titled album.In 1971 he became a backing
singer for Linda
Ronstadt along with Don
Henley, Bernie
Leadon and Randy
Meisner on her Silk Purse tour and thus the ultra-successful The Eagles
were born.He became a co-founder of the
band, playing keyboards and guitar as well as often singing lead
vocals on hits that included "Desperado", "Hotel California", "New
Kid in Town", "One
of These Nights
" to name just a few.After they disbanded in the 1980s
he moved onto a solo career releasing several albums and the hit single "Smuggler's
Blues" and found success with songs for soundtracks including "The Heat is
On" for Beverly Hills Cop, "You
Belong to the City" for Miami Vice.He has also had other songs
appear in Ghostbusters II and Thelma and Louise.Often working as a session
musician with other artists, he has performed with acts such as
Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Dan Fogelberg, Doug Kershaw, Little River
Band, Joni
Mitchell, Randy Newman, Jo Osborn, John Prine, Carly
Simon
, Conway Twitty and Warren Zevon
among many others. The albums
he has appeared on are numerous and a select few include his own The
Allnighter, No Fun Aloud,Soul Searchin' and Strange Weather
as well as Last Mango in Paris by Jimmy
Buffett , Desperado,Hell
Freezes Over, Hotel California, Long Run, On the Border and
One of These Nights by The
Eagles , Inside Job by Don
Henley , 21
at 33 by Elton
John , 80 by B.B. King, Don't Cry Now by Linda
Ronstadt
, Hits! by Boz
Scaggs , Stranger in Town by Bob
Seger
& The Silver Bullet Band, John David Souther by J.D.
Souther
, Trouble in Paradise by the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and So What by Joe
Walsh .He has acted in several roles in TV
series including
Miami
Vice, Wiseguy and Nash Bridges,
he appeared in the film Jerry Maguire
and Cameron Crowe based the character of the lead guitarist in Almost Famous on him. The Eagles reformed in the early
1990s and he has since recorded and toured with them as well as setting up
the record label Mission Records.
