Don Felder will always regret the Eagles feud that never healed
No one navigates decades in the music industry without accumulating a few regrets. Despite the significant achievements they may have attained, it’s likely they encountered situations where they inadvertently harmed others in their quest for success. Don Felder, who often found himself at odds with his bandmates in the Eagles, acknowledged that he could have handled his grievances more tactfully.
When Felder first joined the band, it seemed to be by complete accident. Since most of Bernie Leadon’s lead guitar playing catered to the sounds of country music, frontman Glenn Frey wanted someone who could create a true rock and roll guitar solo for the song ‘Already Gone’ when Leadon suggested Felder.
Having been playing on the session scene, Felder came in to play on the hit single as well as ‘Good Day in Hell’ before Frey asked him to join. By the time Leadon left the fold and was replaced by Joe Walsh, the outfit had gone from their country-rock roots to one of the most kickass bands to come out of Los Angeles, as Felder and Walsh ping-ponged off each other on every track.
The only problem came with the singing, and Felder was not going to be left out. After trying his hand at singing the song ‘Visions’, Felder tried his hand at ‘Victim of Love’ before the rest of the band went behind his back and recorded it themselves. Compared to the sounds of Don Henley’s voice, Felder wasn’t going to cut it, leading to him growing resentful of his place in the group.
That kind of slight might seem small from the outside, but in a band where egos were already starting to collide, it didn’t take much to tip the balance. Felder wasn’t just another hired hand by that point; he had helped shape the band’s biggest sound, and being sidelined creatively only added fuel to an already simmering frustration.
From there, the cracks became harder to ignore. What had once been a tight unit built on harmonies and shared ambition slowly turned into a hierarchy, and for someone like Felder, who had played such a key role in their ascent, it was a tough pill to swallow.
After a verbal slugfest with Frey went on in front of a crowd in 1980, Felder eventually left the band for good, as they quickly called it quits. For a brief moment in the ’90s, though, it looked like everything was going to be alright again. In light of a country record paying tribute to the act, the original lineup got back together… only for Felder to run into more problems when he found out he was getting paid less.
Instead of hashing it out, Frey wasn’t going to take any of Felder’s shit anymore. After learning he didn’t sign the contract, Frey got into a heated conversation with Felder’s manager, calling the guitarist “the one asshole in the band” and forcing him to sign before going on tour. Although Felder would leave after not getting what he saw as his fair share, he admitted that he could have handled things differently.
Reflecting on their time together, Felder had made his peace with the band after Frey’s passing in 2016, saying, “I have no animosity towards any of those guys, especially Glenn. He’s gone, and I regret that I didn’t have the opportunity to sit down with him and just have a good human relationship.”
Even though Felder has tried to move on since Frey’s passing, he has not been a part of any of the band’s final shows, with guitar duties being shared amongst Vince Gill, Joe Walsh, and Steuart Smith. It may have started in the California sunshine, but some of the old wounds never healed after that fateful show in 1980.
