How the Eagles Became one of the Greatest Bands of All Time

GerryKnight | Jun 18, 2010 |

1 Comments | Rating: 0

Considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time, the Eagles have sold well over 120 million albums all over the world, with 5 of their albums having made it to number 1. The band first came together in 1971 in Los Angeles California. At that time, the band consisted of Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Glenn Fry, and Bernie Leadon, and actually was not officially considering themselves as a rock band. They only had come together because they were recruited by John Boylan, who at that time was manager for country rock singer Linda Ronstadt. That original group actually played live together only once. That was in July of 1971, when they backed Linda Ronstadt during a concert that took place in at Disneyland. Linda was impressed with the band, and decided to use them on her 1971 album "Linda Ronstadt". After the album, Linda Ronstadt encouraged the band to form a group themselves. The band signed with newly established record label Asylum Records.

Their first album, called "Eagles' was released in 1972 and became an instant success. The first single "Take it Easy", written by Glenn Fry and Jackson Browne became a top 20 hit. Over the next 8 years, the band released 5 more albums after that (Desperado, On the Border, One of these Nights, Hotel California, and the Long Run) , all of them selling millions of copies. Hotel California was, without doubt, the most successful Eagles album with over 16 million records sold in the US alone til today.

Much to the shock of the music world, the Eagles broke up in 1980. There have been many theories as to why the band broke up. Some say jealousy. Others say that they wanted to pursue their own solo careers. Certainly, the fact that the band began to fight was no secret. It became notoriously obvious during a concert in Long Beach California in July of 1980 when during the concert, Glenn Fry and Don Felder made threats to do physical harm to each other.

After the band broke up, a live album was released in November of 1980, though none of the band members were physically together to mix it. IN 1994, much to a greater shock to the music world, the Eagles reunited and release their "Hell Freezes Over" Album which sold over 6 million copies. The band released three other albums and is currently on tour in Europe. They were inducted in the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.