Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
Nine singles, one album track, and the first Platinum certification in history.
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the first compilation album by the American rock band the Eagles, released by Asylum Records on February 17, 1976. It contains a selection of songs from the band's first four albums, which were released from 1972 to 1975. On the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the album reached number 1, where it stayed for five weeks. The album has the distinction of being the first album to receive a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Platinum certification, which was introduced in 1976 to recognize albums that ship at least one million copies in the United States.
It was ranked number four on Billboard's year-end album chart for 1976, and in September 2025, it broke the 500-week mark (non-consecutive). The RIAA has certified the album 40 times Platinum, indicating sales of 40 million copies in the United States alone, which would make Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) the best-selling album of the 20th century in the United States (it was surpassed in Platinum certifications by Michael Jackson's Thriller after Jackson's death in 2009, but regained the title in August 2018).
In 2016, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Quick Facts
- Artist
- the Eagles
- Released
- 17 February 1976
- Genre
- Rock
- Label
- Asylum
- Producer
- Glyn Johns, Bill Szymczyk
Lore & Background
Irving Azoff, the manager of the Eagles, said: "We decided it was time to put out the first greatest-hits because we had enough hits." According to Don Felder, however, none of the band members had any say in the decision to release the compilation album, which they complained was "nothing more than a ploy by the record company to sell product without having to pay additional production costs." Don Henley was unhappy that songs like "Tequila Sunrise" and "Desperado" were lifted out of the context of the original album in a way that he thought was detrimental to the nature, quality, and meaning of the music.
He said: "All the record company was worried about were their quarterly reports. They didn't give a shit whether the greatest hits album was good or not, they just wanted product." Despite being unhappy with the album's release, the band nevertheless reasoned that it gave them more time to work on the Hotel California album, which was released later in 1976. The cover is a photograph of a piece of art created by artist Boyd Elder (aka "El Chingadero"), whose work was also used for the cover of One of These Nights.
The piece consists of a painted plastic cast of an eagle skull against a light-blue background made of silver mylar. The bumpy appearance of the background gave rise to a myth that it was covered in cocaine powder that the band snorted after the photo shoot. The band chose not to debunk that myth, though Glenn Frey reportedly also noticed the resemblance and told Elder that the background reminded him of "a field of blow" (a slang term for cocaine). The artist was paid $5,000 for his work on the cover.
Reader's Guide
The compilation comprises nine singles released between 1972 and 1975, plus the album track "Desperado". All of the singles except "Tequila Sunrise" had charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, and five had reached the top ten. "One of These Nights" and "Best of My Love" had both topped the chart. The original vinyl editions of Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) featured messages printed onto the inner dead wax: "Happy New Year, Glyn" and "With Love from Bill" appear on sides one and two, respectively.
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said the songs in the compilation are melodic, immediately engaging, and lyrically consistent, so, "unlike the albums from which they come, these songs make up a collection consistent in mood and identity, which may help explain why Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) works so much better than the band's previous discs and practically makes them redundant. No wonder it was such a big hit out of the box." In a 1978 poll of 50 rock critics and DJs organized by Paul Gambaccini, the album was ranked number 141.
It was voted by the public as the sixth best compilation album in the 1994 edition of All Time Top 1000 Albums. Worldwide, the album has sold nearly 45 million copies as of 2020, making it the best-selling greatest hits album, and the fourth best-selling album, of all time.
Track listing
Side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Take It Easy (from Eagles, 1972) | Glenn Frey, Jackson Browne | 3:29 |
| 2 | Witchy Woman (from Eagles) | Don Henley, Bernie Leadon | 4:10 |
| 3 | Lyin' Eyes (from One of These Nights, 1975) | Don Henley, Glenn Frey | 6:21 |
| 4 | Already Gone (from On the Border, 1974) | Robb Strandlund, Jack Tempchin | 4:13 |
| 5 | Desperado (from Desperado, 1973) | Don Henley, Glenn Frey | 3:33 |
Side two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One of These Nights (from One of These Nights) | Don Henley, Glenn Frey | 4:51 |
| 2 | Tequila Sunrise (from Desperado) | Don Henley, Glenn Frey | 2:52 |
| 3 | Take It to the Limit (from One of These Nights) | Randy Meisner, Don Henley, Glenn Frey | 4:48 |
| 4 | Peaceful Easy Feeling (from Eagles) | Jack Tempchin | 4:16 |
| 5 | Best of My Love (from On the Border) | Don Henley, Glenn Frey, JD Souther | 4:35 |
Did You Know?
- The album was the first ever to receive a Platinum certification from the RIAA, just one week after its release on February 24, 1976.
- In January 2026, the album became the first in US history to be certified 4 times Diamond, for selling over 40 million units in the country.
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