(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Wed 12 November 2025 17:35, UK
Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon made up the classic trio of songwriters at the heart of the Eagles during their early rise to fame.
Through the early 1970s, the group honed a winning formula of energetic, country-infused rock music. With chart-busting hits like ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘One of These Nights’, they were already one of the world’s most beloved and successful acts by the mid-1970s.
Despite the band’s unmitigated success following 1975’s One of These Nights, Leadon decided to leave the band, shirking the intrusive limelight. It has long been believed that Leadon left because he was dissatisfied with the band’s gradual departure from country to pop-rock. However, he denied that this was the case in a 2013 interview.
“That’s an oversimplification,” he told Rolling Stone when questioned on the matter. “It implies that I had no interest in rock or blues or anything but country rock. That’s just not the case. I didn’t just play Fender Telecaster. I played a Gibson Les Paul, and I enjoyed rock ‘n’ roll. That’s evident from the early albums.”
Fortunately, the band was well-equipped to deal with Leadon’s departure, having welcomed guitarist Don Felder in 1974. Furthermore, the band took on Joe Walsh, the former frontman of James Gang, as Leadon’s direct replacement in 1975.
With this new configuration, the band soared to new peaks of popularity with their fifth album, Hotel California. The 1976 release rose through album charts worldwide with a hefty debt owed to its titular single, which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year.
The band members of the Eagles. (Credits: Far Out / Showtime / The Eagles)
The late ’70s were shaping up to be a heady ride for the Eagles, but external smiles and success disguised inner tensions that rose to a boil approaching the 1980s. While the band sang of peace and harmony, their internal affairs were somewhat hypocritical. Most notably, amid the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of excess, the all-too-familiar woes of intra-band politics began to take hold, with a major power struggle forming a rift between Felder and Frey.
In the 2013 documentary The History of The Eagles, Frey cited Felder’s lack of vocal ability as an ongoing issue. “Don Felder, for all of his talents as a guitar player, was not a singer,” he said. Drummer Henley agreed, maintaining that it “simply did not come up to band standards”.
The truth is, Eagles were a multi-faceted outfit that required more than just one talent to be a part of the group. It wasn’t enough to just be a great guitarist or singer; you had to be able to achieve extremely high levels in both arenas. Just ask Henley, arguably the greatest lead singer and drummer the world has ever known.
The high of Hotel California remained unmatched by the end of the 1970s, ultimately leading to the Eagles’ acrimonious dissolution in July 1980. That month, during an infamous show at Long Beach, California, nicknamed ‘Long Night at Wrong Beach’, animosity between Frey and Felder reached a violent pitch.
Backstage, before the show began, Felder allegedly said, “You’re welcome – I guess,” to California Senator Alan Cranston’s wife as he thanked the band for performing a benefit concert for his re-election. Frey, taking issue with Felder’s response, entered a tirade of furtive taunts throughout the show.
“We’re onstage, and Felder looks back at me and says, ‘Only three more songs till I kick your ass, pal.’ And I’m saying, ‘Great. I can’t wait’,” Frey recalled of the fateful night. “We’re out there singing ‘Best of My Love’, but inside, both of us are thinking, ‘As soon as this is over, I’m gonna kill him.’ That was when I knew I had to get out.”
The Eagles broke up in 1980 and have since resurfaced several times for reunion tours. Felder returned to the Eagles in 1994 but was subsequently fired in 2001, triggering a raging legal battle as Felder sued for wrongful termination. The case was settled in 2007 out of court for an undisclosed amount.
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