Glenn Frey

Lore & Background

Glenn Frey met drummer Don Henley in 1970 while both were signed to Amos Records and spent time at the Troubadour. When Linda Ronstadt needed a backup band for a tour, her manager hired Frey, who then brought in Henley, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon. The four played together only once during that tour, at a gig at Disneyland, but Frey and Henley decided to form a band afterward, becoming the Eagles. Frey wrote or co-wrote many of the group's songs, often with Henley, and sang lead on hits like "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", and "Heartache Tonight".

The Eagles broke up around 1980 and reunited in 1994, releasing the album Hell Freezes Over and embarking on a tour. Frey told Tavis Smiley in 2012, "When the Eagles broke up, people used to ask me and Don, 'When are the Eagles getting back together?' We used to answer, 'When Hell freezes over.'" At their first 1994 concert, Frey said, "For the record, we never broke up.

We just took a 14-year vacation." The band released Long Road Out of Eden in 2007 and toured from 2008 to 2011. In 2013, the documentary History of the Eagles aired on Showtime, and a two-year world tour ended on July 29, 2015, at Bossier City, Louisiana—Frey's final public appearance with the band. Two days later, the Eagles played a private concert at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis for a donor's 59th birthday, kept secret from the 300 invited guests.

Reader's Guide

Glenn Frey was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 6, 1948, and raised in nearby Royal Oak. He studied piano at age five, later switched to guitar, and became part of the mid-1960s Detroit rock scene. One of his earliest bands was the Subterraneans, named after Jack Kerouac's novel, which included Dondero High School classmates. After graduating in 1966, Frey joined The Four of Us, a local band led by Gary Burrows, and attended Oakland Community College while in the band.

In 1967, he formed the Mushrooms and later another band called Heavy Metal Kids. In 1968, Frey went to Los Angeles, where he met JD Souther and formed a duo called Longbranch Pennywhistle, releasing an eponymous album in 1969. He also met Jackson Browne during this period, and the three lived in the same apartment building for a time. Frey later said he learned a lot about songwriting from hearing Browne work on songs in the apartment below.

After the Eagles' initial breakup, Frey launched a solo career, releasing his debut album No Fun Aloud in 1982 and scoring Top 40 hits including "The One You Love", "Smuggler's Blues", "Sexy Girl", "The Heat Is On", "You Belong to the City", "True Love", "Soul Searchin'", and "Livin' Right". He had 24 Top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 combining solo and Eagles work. In 2009, Frey was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

On May 8, 2012, he released his first solo album in 20 years, After Hours, featuring covers of pop standards from the 1940s to the 1960s—his final album before his death.

Did You Know?

• Frey met Bob Seger in 1967, and Seger helped him get a management and recording contract with Hideout Records.
• Frey was the first choice to record 'Shakedown' for Beverly Hills Cop II but passed on it due to lyrics and laryngitis; Bob Seger recorded it instead.