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The Eagles is one of the most iconic American band in history. This band dominating in the business like no other band. The Eagles have fought through drama and in fighting to become one of the most celebrated musical acts of all time. Check out more information and truths through this 100 facts.
1. The Eagles first formed in 1971 when all four founding members came together as a backup band to play for Linda Ronstadt.
2. All members of the band originally moved to Los Angeles, their home base to find work.
3. Singer/bassist Randy Meisner was born in Scottsbluff Nebraska on March 8, 1946 and moved to LA in 1964 with his band sole survivor.
4. Singer/guitarist/banjoist/mandolinist Bernie Leadon was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 19, 1947 and arrived in LA in 1967 hearts and flowers.
5. Singer/drummer Don Henley born in Gilmer, Texas on July 22, 1947 and moved to LA in June 1976.
6. Glenn Frey was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 6 1948 and moved to LA in the summer of 1968.
7. Frey and Henley were recruited in the summer of 1971 to perform in Linda Ronstadt’s band. Meisner and leadon were brought on for her summer tour.
8. All four eagles actually only ever played one life gig together with Ronstadt before forming the band. It was a July concert at Disneyland.
9. The band was the brainchild of Henley and Frey, who recruited Meisner and Leadon after playing on Ronstadt self-titled album together.
10. In September 1971, the group signed with manager David Geffen and agreed to record for his new label, Asylum Records.
11. The February 1971 the Eagles flew to England for two weeks to record the debut album, Eagles with producer Glyn Johns.
12. Eagles was released in June 1971, reaching the top 20 and going gold after about a year and a half.
13. The album featured two top ten hits entitled ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘Witchy Woman’ and one top 20 hit called ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling.’
14. After touring as an opening act, the Eagles return to England in 1973 to record their second LP entitled Desperado, a concept album about outlaws.
15. Desperado was released in April 1973, and after reaching the top 40, it again went gold in about a year and half.
16. For their third album, the Eagles wanted to transition into harder rock music, while producer is Glyn Johns thought the ban should stick with country rock.
17. They’re growing artistic differences led the group to split with Johns after recording only two songs for the upcoming album.
18. In 1974, after the Eagles toured with singer/guitarist Joe Walsh was opening for them, they decided to bring on Walsh’s producer, Bill Szymczyk.
19. Szymczyk brought in guitarist Don Felder for a session while recording, and the Eagles were so impressed with him, they asked him to join the group.
20. Don Felder was born in Gainesville, Florida, on September 21st, 1947. He went to high school with Bernie Leadon.
21. The Eagles released their third album, ‘on the border’ in 1974. It went gold and reached the top ten, it was their best performing album yet.
22. In November, the Eagles released ‘The best of my love’ as a single. It reached the top of the pop charts and served as the breakthrough they needed.
23. In June 1975, the band released their fourth album ‘One of these nights.’ It immediately went gold and hit number one on the chart.
24. The song “Lyin’ Eyes” off of one of these nights earned the group’s 1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a duo, group or chorus.
25. The Eagles also earned Grammy nominations for album of the year (One of these nights) and record of the year (Lyin eyes).
26. Following their success at the Grammys the Eagles launched the headlining world tour.
27. On December 20, 1975 it was announced that Bernie Leadon had quit the band, and his replacement would be none other than Joe Walsh.
28. Leadon ended up leaving to pursue country based music. He formed the bernie leadon – michaels Georgiades band after leading, and later formed Run C&W.
29. Joe Walsh was born in Wichita, Kansas, on November 20, 1947. He immediately joined the band in the middle of the tour.
30. Due to their rigorous tour schedule, the Eagles did not make plans to record a new album. Their label decided to release a compilation while waiting.
31. In February 1976, the Eagles label released their greatest hits (1971-1975). It topped the charts and sold 29 million copies.
32. Their greatest hits became the second best-selling of all time, following only Michael Jackson’s thriller.
33. Their Greatest Hits was the first album ever certified platinum.
34. In 1976, the Eagles released their fifth album, Hotel California. The album reached number one and it was certified platinum within a week.
35. Hotel California eventually sold over 10 million copies and had two singles ‘New kid in town’ and ‘Hotel California’ hit the number one spot.
36. Hotel California won the 1977 Grammy Award for record of the year. The song was also nominated for song of the year.
37. The album was nominated for album of the year and for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a duo, group, or chorus.
38. In 1977, the Eagles launched another world tour, traveling around the US, Europe, and the Far East.
39. At the end of the tour, Randy Meisner left the band and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmidt who was born in Sacramento, California, on November 20th 1947.
40. In 1979, the Eagles released their sixth album, ‘The long run.’ The album hit number one and eventually went multi-platinum.
41. “Heartache tonight” off of the long run won the 1979 Grammy for Best Rock performance by a duo or group with vocal.
42. The Eagles toured the U.S. in 1980, recording the Eagles live album at their Santa Monica tour stop. It reached the top five and went multi-platinum.
43. In 1982, the Eagles announced that the band had officially broken up and each of its members began working on solo careers.
44. In 1990, after 14 years, Frey and Henley began writing together once again and performed at the benefit concerts with Schmidt and Walsh shortly thereafter.
45. In 1994, the band officially reunited when they taped an MTV concert special and launched a tour that ran through August 1996.
46. The MTV concert was released as the album hell freezes over, which topped the charts and sold millions of copies.
47. In 1998, the Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, the five current band members performed alongside past members, Bernie Leadon and Randy Mike.
48. On December 31st, 1999 the Eagles played a millennium concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
49. The concert was recorded and sold and a compilation box set called selected works:1970-1999.
50. In 2001, Henley and Frey fired don Felder from the Eagles lineup. Apparently, the falling out was caused by a power struggle of sorts.
51. According to Felder, Henley and Frey had formed an exclusive partnership and were greedily cheating the other members of the band out of earnings.
52. Felder specifically cites the time that they founded a seperate company to handle a box set without involvement from Felder, Walsh, and Schmit.
53. Felder says that when he tried to call either of them out for their trespasses, Henley and Frey would threaten to throw out of the band.
54. Felder filed several lawsuits against them, and the suits were eventually settled out of court, the terms unknown to the public.
55. In the midst of the lawsuit, Felder attempted to release an autobiography entitled heaven and hell: my life in the Eagles.
56. Henley and Frey attempted to stop the book from being published in yet another lawsuit. Henley and Frey were ultimately unsuccessful though they did manage to get the book’s publication pushed back a couple of years into 2009.
57. It took six years after Felder’s firing in 2001 for them to settle the lawsuit in 2007.
58. In 2003, the remaining four Eagles-Henley, Frey, Walsh, and Schmidt released the album the very best of the Eagles.
59. In 2007, the Eagles released their first new album with all new material since the long run in 1979. It was called long road out of Eden.
60. Long road out of Eden, the band’s seventh studio album, debuted at number one on the Billboard chart and quickly went multi-platinum.
61. Henley and Frey wrote or co-wrote 14 out of the 19 of the songs on long road out of Eden. In a 2014 interview, Don Henley said this: “We felt like, and we still feel like, we are the leaders of his band, although we certainly do listen to the opinions of the other guys.”
62. In 2008, the Eagles won their fifth Grammy for the single ‘How Long.’
63. In 2010, the band headlined a tour of arenas and stadiums alongside Fleetwood Mac.
64. In 2013, the Eagles came out with a documentary titled ‘history of the Eagles.’ They then toured until 2015.
65. On January 18, 2016 Glenn Frey passed away at the age of 67 due to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
66. A month after Frey passed away, the remaining Eagles played a tribute to him at the 50th annual Grammy Awards in 2016.
67. In 2016, the Eagles received Kennedy Center Honors. They were celebrated onstage by Ringo Starr, kings of Leon, and Bob Seger among others.
68. They were supposed to receive the honors for the year before, but chose to defer for a year due to Frey’s illness.
69. The band’s manager, Irving Azoff, insisted that only current Eagles including Frey would be awarded medallions at the Kennedy Center ceremony.
70. In response, Don Felder started a petition that he shared on Facebook, demanding that the Eagles add him, Meisner and leadon into the mix.
71. A week after the Grammys, Henley, Walsh, and Schmidt performed together at a private memorial service for Frey. Glenn’s son, Deacon, sang with them. Henley said afterwards that the memorial service would likely be the Eagles last performance as a band because it wouldn’t feel right without Frey.
72. In 2017, however, the breakup of the band once again proved it wouldn’t last long. In July the band headlined two new music festivals on both coasts.
73. The Eagles played alongside with Mac, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, journey and Earth, Wind & Fire in both Los Angeles and New York.
74. Glenn Frey’s son Deacon returned to play with the Eagles at the classic East and classic West festivals.
75. Altogether, the Eagles have made five number one singles, 14 top 40 hits, and four number-one albums.
76. Their greatest hits (1971-1975) and Hotel California both ranked among the 10 best selling albums ever.
77. Linda Ronstadt, who the Eagles used to play backup for, later did a cover of their songs ‘Desperado’ off of the album of the same name.
78. While leadon and Felder were attending the same high school in Gainesville, Florida, Felder gave guitar lessons to his other classmate, Tom Petty.
79. Birnie leadon’s younger brother, Tom, was also in the pre- Heartbreakers group called Mudcrutch with Tom Petty.
80. Timothy Schmit, who replaced Randy Meisner after he left the Eagles, had also replaced Meisner after he left the band poco earlier in his career.
81. In 1981, Don Henley dueted with Stevie Nicks on the top 10 single ‘leather and lace.’
82. When Frey was a backup singer for Bob Seger before he moved to Los Angeles.
83. Prior to their breakup in 1982, the Eagles had an altercation on stage at a Long Beach concert that was later dubbed ‘long day at Long Beach.’ During the fight, band members threatened each other with beatings backstage.
84. Immediately prior to their breakup, the band was making decisions about the upcoming album via Fedex from opposite coasts.
85. Glenn Frey wrote ‘The heat is on’ for the soundtrack of the 1984 movie Beverly Hills Cop.
86. Frey also ventured into acting, appearing guest roles on Miami Vice and Nash Bridges, and even appearing in the movie Jerry Maguire.
87. Henley was ultimately the most successful soloist in the group, and won two Grammys for Best Rock Vocal Performance before rejoining the eagles.
88. In 1995, Don Henley Married Sharon Summerall. The couple now has three children.
89. Don Henley and Joe Walsh both dabbled romantically with Stevie Nicks. She still calls Joe Walsh her greatest love.
90. Joe Walsh is currently on his fifth marriage. His marriages have produced four children.
91. His first child, Emma Walsh, died in a car crash when she was two years old. He wrote ‘song for Emma’ and honor of her.
92. The Eagles spent three years and $800,000 to complete the follow-up album Hotel California, the long run.
93. He first time the Eagles were in a room together after their breakup was to film the video for country star Travis Tritt’s cover of “Take it easy.”
94. In 1997, Frey co-founded the music label mission Records.
95. The long road out of Eden was sold exclusively at Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Eagles.com for its first year of release.
96. In 1990, Henley founded the Walden Woods project, dedicated to preserving historic lands around Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts from corporate development. Walden Pond is the natural landscape that inspired Henry David Thoreau in his writing, among others.
97. The Eagles have sued a small hotel in Baja, California, for taking on the name Hotel California and claiming the connection to the Bands famous song.
98. Henley has said that Steely Dan’s lyrical bravery inspired their lyric writing in ‘Hotel California.’
99. The Eagles won a softball game against the editorial staff of Rolling Stone magazine in 1978. The score was 15-8.
100. The Eagles 1978 update of Charles Browns “Please come home for Christmas” became the first holiday theme song to reach the top 20 since Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ around the Christmas tree” in 1960.
