What Are the 5 Biggest U.S. Hits by Glenn Frey?

When the Eagles initially broke up at the end of the ‘70s, it was every California cowboy for himself. As one of the group’s chief songwriters and singers, Glenn Frey was well set up for solo success as the ‘80s dawned.

Videos by American Songwriter

Frey didn’t soar immediately, but he soon established a potent body of work, with several singles that scaled the U.S. charts in impressive fashion. Here are the five songs from his solo career that did the best of all in terms of their chart positions.

5. “The One You Love” (No. 15 in 1982)

Although Frey had established himself as a songwriter of note with the Eagles, it always came in conjunction with others, usually Don Henley. He decided he’d seek out a collaborator for his solo work, and his first call was to Jack Tempchin, who had written the Eagles’ classics “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Already Gone.” Every song on this list but one is a Frey/Tempchin co-write, including “The One You Love,” found on No Fun Aloud, Frey’s 1982 solo debut album. The song gave Frey a chance to show off his tender vocals.

4. “True Love” (No. 13 in 1988)

Before he became California cool in the ‘70s, Frey was born and raised in Detroit. That setting imbued in him a love for soul and rhythm and blues, and that’s an angle he would pursue to great effect, even after his solo career stopped producing big hits. His 1988 album Soul Searchin’ leaned into this artistic side of him far more than previous releases, and the lead single “True Love” set the table. Instead of Detroit, however, Frey was doing a take here on a Memphis soul feel, a la the great Al Green.

3. “Smuggler’s Blues” (No. 12 in 1985)

Frey began a productive association with the NBC cop drama Miami Vice with this song. He wrote and recorded the song, and then appeared in an episode of the show that heavily featured it and utilized a plot that dovetailed with his and Tempchin’s lyrics. That’s pretty good exposure to have, and Frey would use the show as a springboard to another big hit still to come on this list. “Smuggler’s Blues” effectively details how the war on drugs, while it got a lot of lip service in the ‘80s, was largely a losing proposition on all sides.

2. “You Belong to the City” (No. 2 in 1985)

You kind of had to live through the Miami Vice phenomenon to understand just how impactful it was. A big part of its appeal was how it catered to a pop music audience like no show before it by strategically placing moody hits of the day into the open spaces of the narrative. When the show came back for its second season in 1985, it did so with an episode that took the leads to New York City. That provided the impetus for Frey to come through with “You Belong to the City,” which sounds like an ‘80s version of a film noir score.

1. “The Heat Is On” (No. 2 in 1984)

The story goes that Frey was invited to an early screening of Beverly Hills Cop in 1984, only to see many other music luminaries in the audience. That led him to believe he didn’t have much chance at getting the gig to sing the main soundtrack single. Lo and behold, songwriters Keith Forsey and Harold Faltermeyer delivered the track to him a few months later. Frey added not just his vocals, but also the lead guitar part. While the song might be a tad formulaic, Frey’s energy pushes it a long way.

Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images