(Credits: Alamy)
Sun 28 September 2025 16:30, UK
Whenever a band like Eagles fall out, that’s normally a sign for them to fade into obscurity.
Even if they had plenty of great tunes to go around, it’s not like they were the most fashionable thing in the world the minute that they entered the 1980s. The Long Run may have been a tragic way for them to go out, but it took a lot more than their evergreen material to keep them in people’s ears for the rest of time.
That’s not to take anything away from the quality of their tunes. Don Henley and Glenn Frey could write a hell of a rock and roll song or a heartbreaking ballad, and when looking at their first greatest hits album, not many artists can boast such a strong lineup of classics before they even reached their magnum opus, Hotel California. But if you asked any band member about the group circa 1984, the Eagles were an idea that no one wanted to talk about.
Henley and Frey had both moved on to solo careers, and while Don Felder had the odd contribution to movies like Heavy Metal, the newest version of the band was being carried on with tunes like ‘The Boys of Summer’ or ‘The Heat Is On’. But the band’s demise actually came at the exact right time for them to take over the world all over again.
Artists of their generation had clearly been working in rock and roll for years at this point, and while everyone loved listening to what people like Henley or Stevie Nicks or Tom Petty were doing, they weren’t exactly the same hot new artists for kids listening to artists like Def Leppard and Madonna, either. There needed to be another format for them to work in, and when classic rock radio started, Eagles became the hottest band in the world all over again.
Granted, it’s not like many people were listening to classic rock in between their Prince records at the time. The idea of ‘classic’ rock was a relatively new concept still, but when putting together playlists on those first stations, Eagles’ music was always the most immediately accessible. Fans might not have been ready to hear the Pink Floyd epics just yet, but if they tuned into a station and heard ‘Take it Easy’ or ‘Desperado’, it was a welcome alternative to the squelchy keyboards on the pop stations.
And if you were to ask Henley, the concept of ‘classic rock’ played a big role in helping bring them back together as well, saying, “Even when we were broken up the music was playing on the radio. It took on a life of its own and kept us in the public ear. And as the old saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.” So when the country community eventually embraced them as well, it made too much sense for them to get back together once the 1990s rolled around.
None of their solo careers had tapered off by any means, but classic rock radio is part of the reason why the reception was rapturous when they played their Hell Freezes Over concerts. They may have looked like seasoned dads of the industry at that point, but their voices still blended perfectly whenever they played tunes like ‘Lyin’ Eyes’, and there was no shortage of people that wanted to shout along to ‘One of These Nights’.
Most artists that fall under the ‘classic rock’ bracket might take offence at being over-the-hill, but the Eagles are living proof of how far a band can go if they embrace their status in the world. Not everyone liked the idea of being considered the old men of the industry, but by keeping up their track record, the California rockers got the one thing that’s almost never guaranteed in this business: a second act.
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