![\"Don](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Don-Henley-Musician-The-Eagles-Drummer-Vocalist-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ TIDAL)<\/p>\n
Sat 11 October 2025 14:08, UK <\/p>\n
Every artist grows up with posters of their hero on their wall, who they dream of one day emulating, even greats like Don Henley<\/a>.<\/p>\n Henley\u2019s musical life truly began when he was 16 in the early 1960s while at high school. At this stage, it was an excuse to hang out with friends while practising a hobby until the early hours of the morning in a garage. However, at this stage, Henley didn\u2019t foster<\/a> ambitions of it becoming his livelihood.<\/p>\n His friendship with classmate Richard Bowden proved to be vital for Henley as Bowden\u2019s father was a musician, and encouraged them to play at his house. Henley somehow managed to assemble himself a makeshift drum kit using leftover equipment from school, and when he wasn\u2019t at Bowden\u2019s house, he would spend his evenings on his porch trying to emulate Ringo Starr.<\/p>\n During a Q&A ev<\/a>e<\/a>nt<\/a> in Dallas in 2017, Henley recalled, \u201cMy Mom, sometime in \u201963, recognising that I had some talent, bought me a drum kit. And I would also practice at home on my parents\u2019 porch down at the end of the house. And I would play along to Beatles records, play along with Ringo.\u201d<\/p>\n While Starr was responsible for Henley learning his craft as a drummer and teaching him the principles of the instrument, he wasn\u2019t the most influential member of the Fab Four on him. Instead, that accolade belongs to John Lennon, who, in the eyes of a teenage Henley, walked on water and was the one musician that he admired most.<\/p>\n Henley, born in 1947, is a generation below The Beatles, meaning he was the perfect age to enjoy their rise to superstardom. In the same year, the Liverpudlians made their television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show <\/a>in 1963, Henley began performing with his first band at high school and let his newfound love become an obsession.<\/p>\n When he finally decided to take the plunge and sing in front of the general public, Henley unsurprisingly chose to raid The Beatles\u2019 back catalogue. Due to his love of Lennon, the Eagles drummer decided to sing one of his numbers and elected to cover \u2018She\u2019s A Woman\u2019, the B-side to \u2018I Feel Fine\u2019. From that moment, he was hooked on performing, and the role of Lennon in creating this infatuation has never been lost on Henley.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn Lennon is still a great influence on my life and my career,\u201d Henley said in a conversation with Uncle<\/a> Joe Benson<\/a>. \u201cThe first song I ever tried to sing in public was one of his songs; it was called \u2018She\u2019s a Woman\u2019. He was my biggest hero, even bigger than Elvis.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/What-did-John-Lennon-really-think-of-Paul-McCartney-and-Wings-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>John Lennon greatly inspired Don Henley. (Credits: Far Out \/ Yoko Ono \/ Album Covers)<\/p>\n