(Credits: Far Out / Derek Russell)
Thu 23 April 2026 19:40, UK
During the Eagles’ prime, there was no reason to argue with anyone’s vocals next to Don Henley.
Although every member of the group had a signature vocal tone that created their signature blend of voices, Henley had that golden rasp in his voice that made him the de facto leader on almost all of their classic hits like ‘Best of My Love’ and ‘Hotel California’. Even gods can have their off days, though, and Henley knew that songs like ‘Taking You Home’ were a bit tough to equal over time.
By the time the Eagles broke up, Henley was already being pegged as the standout solo star of the group. He had a hand in writing almost every one of their classic hits, so why not try to keep the party going with more music? Whereas he was evened out by Glenn Frey’s lighthearted side now and again, a lot of Henley’s solo material tended to go for more serious material, keeping the integrity of a 1970s singer-songwriter usually.
Even if a tune like ‘Dirty Laundry’ was catchy, Henley still had a certain agenda when talking about the horrors that come from the media. That was just the first time that he spread his wings, but The End of the Innocence might be more indicative of what he could do without the rest of his group beside him.
On ‘New York Minute’ and ‘The Heart of the Matter’, Henley was opening himself up as a writer, going the route of someone like Bruce Hornsby and embracing the adult sounds of pop. Although Inside Job was made after the Eagles got back together, it’s clearly its own animal, with many songs stretching out a little longer and having a few more sonic detours.
(Credits: Far Out / TIDAL)
Although Henley continued to push himself both in and out of the Eagles, ‘Taking You Home’ was the kind of song that he didn’t want to touch in a live setting. When speaking to The Montreal Gazette, he said that picking out tunes for the setlist involves axing some of the strenuous ones, saying, “When I tally it all up with the Eagles catalogue and my solo catalogue, there are a lot of songs there, you know? There are still songs I could do in my set. I mean, for example, I haven’t been doing ‘Taking You Home’ — because it’s really f—ing hard to sing.”
Henley was never known as Freddie Mercury or anything, but it’s easy to see why this kind of song would test him. As opposed to songs that stay in one part of his range, hearing him put his voice through its paces usually involves the kind of leaps that take vocal acrobatics to pull off. When you have that kind of song in the repertoire, it’s easy to just sing ‘Desperado’ instead.
There are even a handful of songs that have shifted ever since Henley got back on the road. As much as people love his solo catalogue right alongside the Eagles, a tune like ‘Boys of Summer’ is usually played in a lower key to ease up on the amazing high notes that might not make sense to hit these days.
But the fact that Henley managed to hit any of them in the first place is a testament to the kind of singer he turned himself into. It’s one thing just to sing any song that comes across the music stand, but Henley proved to be absolutely fearless and managed to take a swing on any tune if it was called for.
That willingness to push himself is exactly what separates Henley from many of his contemporaries. Even when faced with songs that tested the very limits of his range, he never shied away from recording them in the first place. The difficulty of performing ‘Taking You Home’ live is less a flaw in the song and more a reflection of how ambitiously it was written, demanding a level of control and endurance that few vocalists could consistently deliver night after night.
It also speaks to the longevity of his career. Voices change, priorities shift, and setlists evolve, but the foundation of Henley’s work remains intact because it was built on strong songwriting rather than pure vocal showmanship. If anything, choosing when to step back from certain tracks shows a different kind of musical intelligence, one rooted in preservation rather than excess, ensuring that both the songs and the performances continue to resonate long after their initial release.
