This band was formed in the 1971 in Los Angeles, California when they were put together by the manager, John Boylan, to back Linda Ronstadt on a tour. It was during this time that they decided to become the Eagles and chose their name “as a nod to the Byrds”, and they became successful after releasing their first album Eagles which was followed up by Desperado.
They are ranked as one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s with five No. 1 singles and four No. 1 albums in the American charts and the 1976 album Their Greatest Hits !971-1975 is the biggest selling album in US history selling over 29 million copies. Known also for the album Hotel California, the title track is regarded as a classic rock song.
Aside from their own work they were also the backing band for Randy Newman’s Little Criminals in 1977.
Following their 1979 tour the band members were faced with many problems with the drug related arrest of Glenn Frey as well as a fight between him and Don Felder at a fundraising concert. The fighting continued and on the final night of the tour Frey and Felder were continually threatening each other until a huge fight, that involved the band and roadies, trying to separate them.
They disbanded in 1980 with their final album being mixed in separate sides of the country as Glenn Frey and Don Henley couldn’t work together amicably anymore.
The band re-united in 1993 and toured in 1994 but they saw controversy again when they dedicated the song “Peaceful Easy Feeling” to Saddam Hussein. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2007 they released Long Road Out of Eden and began their supporting tour which ran from 2008 to 2011. Also that year Berklee College of Music awarded the members of the group an honorary Doctorate of Music.
In 2013 the Emmy Award documentary History of Eagles was broadcast and they embarked on two year world tour. Their final concert was in Louisiana in July 2015 which would be Glenn Frey’s final public appearance.
The group were supposed to appear at the Kennedy Center Honors in November 2015 but they postponed due to the fact that Glenn was having intestinal surgery for acute ulcerative colitis. He later passed away in January 2016. This meant Don was the only original member left and after not knowing if the band would perform again they headlined Classic East and Classic West concerts in July 2017 with Glenn’s son Deacon taking his place along with their guest musician Vince Gill. Bob Seger also joined them for a concert.
Members
Glenn Frey (guitar/piano/vocals)(1971-1980)(1993-present)
Bernie Leadon (guitar/banjo/mandolin/vocals) (1971-1976)
Randy Meisner (bass/guitar/vocals) (1971-1977)
Don Henley (drums/vocals)(1971-1980)(1993-present)
Don Felder (guitar/vocals) (1974-1980)(1993-2001)
Joe Walsh (guitar/keyboards/vocals) (1976-1980) (1993-present)
Timothy B. Schmidt (bass/vocals) (1977-1980) (1993-present)
Eagles recordings
One of These Nights (Don Henley/Glenn Frey)
Visions (Don Felder/Don Henley)
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