The Eagles have announced their farewell tour. The band will finally call it quits more than 50 years after its formation. The trajectory of the Eagles’ career has been rocky. While they are one of the most celebrated rock bands of all time, they are also the paradigm for fracturing under the pressure of fame. In honor of their storied career, revisit the nine iconic moments from The Eagles career, below.
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1. From the Ashes of Linda Ronstadt’s Band Comes the Eagles
Before the Eagles were the Eagles, Don Henley and Glenn Frey were tapped by Linda Ronstadt to join her backing band. “Glenn and Don were rooming together and they each discovered the other could sing and was a great songwriter,” Ronstadt once said of her role in the band’s formation. “Glenn used to call Don his secret weapon. He said, ‘I’m gonna do a band with Don. We’re gonna do a band together.'”
Henley and Frey then brought Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon in, creating the original line-up of the Eagles.
2. Becoming the Eagles
After the line-up of the band was secure, they were faced with the same monumental task all burgeoning bands encounter: picking a band name. The bandmates have contradictory memories when it comes to how they came up with the name Eagles.
Felder claims that Leadon thought of the name while recalling a story he had read about the Hopis people’s reverence for the bird of prey, while frequent collaborator J.D. Souther claims Frey came up with the name on a whim after seeing the animal flying above them.
Regardless of how they landed on the name, they were left a moniker that was as all-American as the band themselves.
3. “Take it Easy”
The band’s first official single, “Take it Easy,” was released in 1972. Frey penned the song with his neighbor and fellow rock icon, Jackson Browne. The pair created a manifesto for the band, one that outlines their easy-breezy, West Coast approach to life.
The song peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and set the group up for the enduring success they would garner for the rest of the decade.
4. Joe Walsh Joins the Band
The Eagles are a notoriously volatile group. They have had many rifts, line-up changes, and break-ups throughout their tenure, but a 1975 fallout between Frey and Leadon would open up a spot for a new band member, Joe Walsh.
It would be hard to imagine the Eagles without Walsh. His fun-loving nature both fit in perfectly with the group and added something new. Though Leadon’s contributions to the band cannot be overlooked, Walsh taking his place ushered in a new era for the Eagles.
5. Greatest Hits…After Just Three Albums?
Some bands wait decades before having enough prestige to release a greatest hits album. The Eagles, however, hit the ground running. With just three albums to their name, the band decided to share a Greatest Hits album in 1976.
The album dethroned Michael Jackson in 2018, becoming the best-selling album of all time according to the RIAA. Though it may have seemed like a premature effort from the band, clearly they knew what they were doing.
6. You Can Check Out Anytime You Like…
In 1976, the Eagles changed rock music forever by releasing “Hotel California.” That may seem a dramatic statement, but no band had released an epic song like this track before, and it’s hard to think of a release that could be equal to “Hotel California” released in the years since.
The Eagles tallied their collective strengths together to create a masterpiece of shredding guitars, well-crafted imagery, and a killer melody. The band had already proven themselves to be mainstays in rock, but they became living legends with the release of “Hotel California.”
7. Break Up
In 1980, the band could no longer withstand its fracturing and ultimately broke up. Each of the members went their separate ways and began working on their own solo careers—though, Henley and Frey became the most commercially successful. It’s a sad moment in the band’s history, but an important stop off on a list of memorable moments from throughout their career.
8. Hell Freezes Over
When the band broke up, Henley famously made a statement that the Eagles would only get back together if hell froze over. The devil must have felt a chill in 1994 when the Eagles reunited for a live album oh-so-coyly named, Hell Freezes Over.
The album ushered a few great years for the band before things started to get rocky again. Each of the members was operating at top speed, despite being decades into their tenure together.
9. Farewell Tour
The Eagles have experienced a few more line-up changes in more recent years. In 2023, their line-up consists of Henley, Walsh, bassist Timothy B. Schmit, and guitarist Vince Gill. The new additions have allowed the band to continue on in the wake of Frey’s death in 2016.
Despite delighting fans with their extended run, the band has announced the end of their touring days. They will embark on one more trek this fall. Find their tour dates, here.
Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
