Co-writer of “Hotel California” struggled with intestinal issues in his final days
Guitarist and founding member of The Eagles Glenn Frey has died at 67.
The musician and co-writer of hits like “Hotel California” and “Take It Easy” took a turn for the worst after struggling with intestinal issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrfhf1Gv4Tw
“Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia,” a statement on the band’s website said.
Frey is a six-time Grammy winner and enjoyed solo success with songs like “The Heat is On,” from Eddie Murphy‘s 1984 classic “Beverly Hills Cop.”
The Eagles broke up in 1980, coming back briefly in 1994 for their successful “Hell Freezes over” reunion tour. The band was set to for recognition at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors alongside the likes of Carole King, but pushed a year due to Frey’s health issues.
Eagles drummer Don Henley offered his remembrance of Frey shortly after the news was announced:
“He was like a brother to me; we were family, and like most families, there was some dysfunction. But, the bond we forged 45 years ago was never broken, even during the 14 years that the Eagles were dissolved. We were two young men who made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles with the same dream: to make our mark in the music industry. With perseverance, a deep love of music, our alliance with other great musicians and our manager,Irving Azoff, we built something that has lasted longer than anyone could have dreamed. But, Glenn was the one who started it all. He was the spark plug, the man with the plan. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a work ethic that wouldn’t quit. He was funny, bullheaded, mercurial, generous, deeply talented and driven. He loved is wife and kids more than anything. We are all in a state of shock, disbelief and profound sorrow. We brought our two-year “History of the Eagles Tour” to a triumphant close at the end of July and now he is gone. I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever, and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of other people all over the planet. It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it. But, I will be grateful, every day, that he was in my life. Rest in peace, my brother. You did what you set out to do, and then some.”
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What a terrible loss. Sympathy to his wife, kids and bandmates past and present.
For a Detroit kid who got his start singing teenaged harmonies and strumming acoustic rhythm guitar on buddy Bob Seger’s first hit Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, he sure went far. As Don Henley so aptly put it (see above), Glenn was indeed “the spark plug, the man with the plan” whose intense focus drove the band to perfect their harmony-laced, alt-country assault on the early ’70s rock scene.
Of course, it was that same intensity, plus his and other band members’ drug abuse, that led to the exit of fellow founders Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.
By all accounts, Meisner’s replacement, Timothy B Schmit, was a peacemaker. Who knows? Without his calming influence, perhaps the group wouldn’t even have released The Long Run, the ever-delayed followup to Hotel California. But the friction between Frey and Henley for songwriting/lead-vocal supremacy, chafing by newer members Don Felder and Joe Walsh at the two founders’ dominance, not to mention the enormous pressure to match or surpass the success of Hotel California, proved too much.
In the early ’90s, not that long before the group ended its 13-year breakup, I stayed a couple of nights at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver. The hotel lobbies were adorned with elaborately decorated Christmas trees, sponsored by benefactors. One tree’s card read “Glenn Frey and family.” Staff wouldn’t confirm it was that Glenn Frey. But he was active in those years as an actor and Vancouver was busy with innumerable productions. So not hard to imagine it was his way of giving something back to a city that almost always made the schedule of Eagles tours. That love affair continued. Didn’t the reunited band do two concerts in a row and a third soon thereafter at Rogers Arena a few years ago?
I kick myself that I didn’t ferry over from Victoria to see their last appearances in Vancouver. I listen to retro radio and subscribe to the Vancouver Sun, National Post and Globe and Mail. Somehow no big deal was made about Bernie Leadon being in the lineup for several songs in History of the Eagles tour. I only learned later, long after those 2013 Vancouver dates. (Randy Meisner was also invited onto the tour, but was too ill to participate.)
Stupidly, I figured the band would be back in a year or so. Tim Schmit is in remission from throat and neck cancer. Randy Meisner was erroneously declared dead by a tabloid, but is in a perilous state. Bad blood continues with Don Felder who was fired in 2001 and launched endless litigation. So not likely to see another version of the band.
The Generational shift has started.
I think if you are of a certain age, and remember the Sixties, etc – we had the ‘best of times’, musically.
Imagine life now.
Endless Adele, Bieber and machine voiced crap.
Frey was a nice guy. I was lucky to meet him, in 1977. The Eagles had played Maple Leaf Gardens – and my shift at CFTR prevented me seeing the show. I made the crazed after party at “The Hot Stove” lounge for the Band. I wound up chatting with Glenn Frey for quite a while and he was a really fine guy. I was impressed. I think next to The Beatles, and maybe some Stones songs, I can’t think of a Band that I always ran wide open and I sang along with, as much as The Eagles.. Jocks of the era were blessed. Yeah, we had disco….but…
RIP, Mr. Frey and Thank You for the years of music that became a huge part of the soundtrack to my life. My condolences to your Family and friends.
Millions of us, are at a loss.