September 17, 2024, was a sad day for the music community. On this date, one year ago, singer and songwriter JD Souther passed away at his home in New Mexico. Souther was 78 years old when he died. A cause of death was never provided.
In addition to Souther’s numerous hits he has written, Souther is credited for helping form what became the Eagles. It is Souther who put together the earliest formation of the iconic group, when he was forming a backing band for Linda Rondstadt. According to Souther, he was dating Ronstadt at the time when he unintentionally formed one of the best rock bands of all time, beginning with Glenn Frey and Don Henley.
“My girlfriend then was Linda Ronstadt,” Souther recalls to Songwriter Universe. “She needed a band on the road—Glenn and Don backed her up, and that’s when the Eagles were born.”
Souther also had success as an artist on his own. In 1972, he formed the Souther-Hillman Furay Band, a supergroup of sorts with Souther, The Byrds’ Chris Hillman, and Buffalo Springfield’s Richie Furay.
JD Souther’s Success as a Songwriter
JD Souther had numerous songs cut by both Ronstadt and the Eagles. He also had his songs recorded by artists like Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor, among others, even recording a duet, “Her Town Too” with Taylor. But Souther’s largest musical contributions can be attributed to the Eagles.
It’s Souther who had a hand in writing some of the Eagles’ biggest hits, including “Heartache Tonight”, “Best Of My Love”, “New Kid In Town”, and more. Interestingly, Souther was also invited to join the Eagles, an invitation he ultimately declined.
David Geffen, who signed the Eagles to their first label, Asylum, wanted Souther to join. But for Souther, the lure of being part of a group of talented writers and musicians was not nearly strong enough to entice him.
“I am a terrible team player,” Souther tells American Songwriter. “Geffen wanted me in the band. We actually rehearsed a set and played it for him. I remember looking down the stage thinking, ‘Man, this is an awful lot of singers and acoustic guitar players all in the same band.’ I felt, ‘I’m not necessary here.’ And I don’t really like being told what to do in any sense anyway.”
Souther still wrote a lot of songs with both Henley and Frey, a combination that worked well, even though Souther was never part of the group.
“To me, the biggest advantage of writing with somebody else is that it gets finished sooner,” Souther says. “You’re always pushing each other to do it a little bit better. And there’s also a little implied criticism going back and forth. You want to push the other person to the best thing they’ve got. Because your name is going to be on it, too. So I think it’s one of the reasons why Henley and Frey and I wrote together as well as we could. And we were friends, and also really complete believers in the spirit of collaboration. Almost brothers. But we were very competitive with each other. Intensely so. Almost nasty.”
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Americana Music