“Everybody can’t do everything”: The main conflict Don Henley said pulled Eagles apart
Despite being one of the most successful rock outfits of all time, the Eagles were often as noteworthy for their intense inner conflict as they were for their music. Colossal hits like ‘Hotel California’ cemented the Los Angeles-born band’s position in the rock history books, but they did little to alleviate the endless infighting and ego battles within its lineup. For the most part, it was Don Henley and Glenn Frey who were at the heart of that seemingly endless internal struggle.
It was back in the early 1970s that Frey and Henley first crossed paths, recruited as the backing band for Linda Ronstadt. At that time, the two songwriters appeared to get along well, eventually deciding to write together, culminating in the official formation of the Eagles. What’s more, success was pretty immediate for this new band, with their 1972 debut providing them with a mainstream breakthrough which would set them on a path to commercial rock domination by the mid-1970s.
With this rapid rise to success, however, the partnership of Frey and Henley deteriorated just as quickly. After all, mainstream success brought with it more money, more drugs, more pressure, and, crucially, mightily-inflated egos. When the band released their defining album Hotel California in 1976, that dissent into conflict only accelerated, leading to near-constant arguments and vicious battles both on tour, in the studio, and in the writing room. By the end of the decade, the band was well beyond boiling point.
An onstage argument sparked the ultimate demise of the band, with Don Henley openly threatening guitarist Don Felder during a show in Long Beach, California. “I’m gonna kick your ass when we get off the stage,” were the words which came out of Henley’s mouth that night, according to Felder. It is no surprise that the band split up shortly thereafter, after fulfilling their commitment to release a live album through Elektra.
Although high levels of conflict within bands are not a particularly rare occurrence – it has plagued everybody from The Beatles to Fleetwood Mac – the Eagles are noted for their arguments more than most groups. But what was the root cause of that conflict, other than the trappings of life as a globally successful rock band? According to Don Henley, the band’s downfall lay within their ever-increasing egos.
Speaking about the band’s initial break-up for a VH1 programme back in 1994–the same year that the band reunited–Henley shared, “The dynamic in the Eagles, or the interpersonal relationships within the band, were really not that different from any other rock and roll band.”
Explaining, he added: “There’s dissension in any band”.
However, difficulties arose when Eagles members started getting ideas above their station. “‘All men are created equal.’ Never was there a bigger lie printed and believed,” Henley declared.
“As long as people understand what they do best, and are content to do that, then everything’s fine, but when every guy in the band wants to be everything, then things start to disintegrate,” the songwriter said. “Everybody in this group has a particular gift, everybody’s really good at something.”
However, he noted, “Everybody can’t do everything, and egos start getting in the way, and therein lies the problem.”
Concluding his reflections on the band’s break-up, Henley recalled, “That’s where we had trouble, but we still managed to get through eight-and-a-half years of trashing about and disagreeing.” What’s more, those eight-and-a-half years saw the Eagles become America’s defining rock sound, producing albums of unparalleled success and acclaim. Not bad for a band that vehemently hated each other.
