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Timeline

The Eagles, Year by Year

When a band like the Eagles exists, in one form or another, for five decades, the comings and goings of members, the order of events, and even the years of significant album releases can become murky. This section gives a quick overview of the band’s story, while also highlighting a few oddities since they started their journey in 1972.

1946

• Randy Herman Meisner is born on March 8.

1947

• Donald Hugh “Don” Henley is born on July 22.

• Bernard Mathew “Bernie” Leadon III is born on July 19.

• Donald William “Don” Felder is born on September 21.

• Joseph Fidler “Joe” Walsh is born on November 20.

1948

• Glenn Lewis Frey is born on November 6.

1967

• Leadon lands in Los Angeles to play guitar with Hearts & Flowers.

1968

• Leadon plays distinctive, twangy guitar on the influential country-rock album The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark.

• Henley begins to write the song “Desperado.”

• Meisner joins a new band, Pogo, soon to change their name to Poco.

1969

• Frey from Detroit and J. D. Souther from Amarillo, Texas, form a duo called Longbranch Pennywhistle.

1970

• Henley arrives in Los Angeles with his band Shiloh, ready to work with producer Kenny Rogers.

• Frey and Henley are both in the audience at the Troubadour club when new British artist Elton John makes his debut performance.

1971

• David Geffen opens his own label, Asylum Records. “Take It Easy” writer Jackson Browne is the label’s first act.

• Linda Ronstadt’s backing band at Disneyland in July features Frey, Henley, Leadon, and Meisner, performing together for the first—but not last—time.

• David Geffen signs the Eagles to Asylum and then sends them to Aspen, Colorado, to rehearse.

1972

• The Eagles travel to London to record with legendary producer Glyn Johns.

• The band’s debut album, Eagles, is released in June.

• The Eagles go on the road in America, opening for rock bands like Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, and Yes.

• “Take It Easy” is the group’s first single. It reaches #12 on the Billboard chart.

1973

• The Eagles record again in winter in London with Glyn Johns.

• Henley and Frey write together for the first time.

• The Wild West concept album Desperado is released in April.

1974

• After recording sessions become too fractured, the Eagles replace Glyn Johns with Bill Szymczyk, who produces the rest of the On the Border album.

• Hotshot guitar player Don Felder plays on “Good Day in Hell.” Frey asks him to join the band.

• On the Border is released.

• The Eagles play to an audience of 300,000 at the California Jam festival in Ontario, California, in April.

1975

• “Best of My Love” is the Eagles’ first #1.

• Leadon pours a can of beer over Frey and leaves the Eagles.

• Joe Walsh replaces Leadon on guitar.

1976

• The Eagles release their first compilation album, Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975.

• The band’s next original album, Hotel California, is released in December.

1977

• After the Hotel California tour finishes, Meisner quits the band for a quieter life back home in Nebraska.

• Timothy B. Schmit, who had earlier replaced Meisner in Poco, now replaces him in the Eagles.

• “New Kid in Town” goes to the top of the Billboard singles chart.

• Frey, J. D. Souther, and Walsh are guests at Jimmy Buffett’s second wedding in Colorado.

• The band start recording their next album, The Long Run.

1979

• The Eagles release their new album The Long Run in September.

• “Heartache Tonight” goes to #1 in November.

1980

• In July, Felder and Frey come to blows at a show in Long Beach, California.

• The Eagles break up.

• Joe Walsh runs for president.

1981

• Felder contributes two songs to the soundtrack of the movie Heavy Metal.

1982

• Henley releases a solo album, I Can’t Stand Still, containing the hit single “Dirty Laundry.”

• Frey releases his first solo album, No Fun Aloud.

1984

• Henley releases the chart-topping Building the Perfect Beast, which establishes him as a serious solo artist.

1985

• Frey makes his acting debut in an episode of Miami Vice. The episode also features his single “Smuggler’s Blues.”

1987

• Schmit achieves a Top 40 hit with “Boys Night Out.”

1991

• The hit movie Thelma & Louise features music by Frey.

1993

• An all-star country-music tribute album, Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, is produced in Nashville. The album features a Travis Tritt version of “Take It Easy.” Tritt wants the Eagles in his promo video. He gets his wish.

• Frey’s TV series, South of Sunset, lasts just one episode before CBS cancels it.

• The Eagles perform live at Warner Bros.’ Burbank Studios for an MTV special that will be broadcast the next year.

1994

• Hell Freezes Over is the Eagles’ first album since The Long Run.

• The Eagles’ sellout reunion tour is briefly interrupted in September due to a serious recurrence of Frey’s diverticulitis.

• Walsh sobers up.

1996

• Frey appears in the blockbuster Tom Cruise/Renée Zellweger movie Jerry Maguire.

1998

• The Eagles are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jimmy Buffett. Leadon and Meisner join the others onstage for two songs, “Take It Easy” and “Hotel California.”

• Henley’s environmental project, the Thoreau Institute, opens in Walden Woods in Lincoln, Massachusetts. At the opening ceremony, Henley is joined by the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, and President Bill Clinton.

1999

• Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 has now sold more than twenty-six million copies, making it the top-selling album of the twentieth century.

• Felder plays his last show as an Eagle in December.

2000

• The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducts Henley and Frey at the Sheraton Hotel, New York.

2001

• Felder is fired from the Eagles and promptly files a lawsuit against Henley and Frey.

• The group resumes touring, with the lineup now Frey, Henley, Walsh, Schmit, plus Steuart Smith.

2003

• The Eagles release an updated hits album, The Very Best of the Eagles, featuring the new single “Hole in the World.”

• Henley, Walsh, and Schmit work on Warren Zevon’s last record, The Wind.

• The Very Best of the Eagles is certified double-platinum in December.

2004

• The Eagles’ 2004 Farewell 1 world tour covers the U.S.A., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Australia.

2005

• The Eagles continue their Farewell 1 Tour and release Farewell 1 Tour—Live from Melbourne.

• Billboard magazine says the Eagles have the second-highest-grossing tour of the year.

2006

• They may not speak, but Felder and Frey have golf in common. They are both listed on Golf Digest’s list of music’s top 100 golfers. Felder is at #38 with a 10.2 handicap, with Frey down at #49 with a 12.6.

2007

• Long Road Out of Eden is released. It’s the band’s first new album since 1979.

• “How Long,” written by J. D. Souther, is released to radio.

• Don Henley is honored as MusiCares Person of the Year.

2008

• The Eagles win the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “How Long.”

• The Eagles get the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

• The Long Road Out of Eden tour begins in the U.K. at the O2 in London. The tour runs till November 19, 2011, when it closes down in Las Vegas.

2013

• In February 2013, the Eagles release History of the Eagles, a career-spanning film documentary. It debuts at Sundance and is then broadcast by Showtime.

• The massive History of the Eagles tour begins July 6 in Louisville, Kentucky. Bernie Leadon is invited back for the tour, as is Randy Meisner, but he’s not well enough to consider the offer.

2014

• The Eagles kicked off 2014 in style with a special “History of the Eagles” five-night run at the re-opening of the historic L.A. Forum in Inglewood, California. The band toured most of the year, and in August they announced a string of dates in Australia for the early part of 2015.

• In October, the History of the Eagles documentary was made available for streaming on Netflix.