Eagles founder Randy Meisner dies aged 77
The founding bass player for the Eagles, Randy Meisner, has died at the age of 77 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Meisner famously provided the lead vocals for the Eagles 1976’s song ‘Take It to the Limit’. The band have confirmed his death in a statement.
Meisner was born in Nebraska in 1946 and originally sang and played based in Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band as well as the country rock band Poco. In 1971, he formed the Eagles with Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon.
He’d first come into contact with Henley and Frey when they were all brought together to play as backing musicians for Linda Rondstadt by producer John Boylan.
Rondstadt has spoke of working with the Eagles in their early days previously, telling Billboard, “I remember coming home one day, and they had rehearsed ‘Witchy Woman’ and they had all the harmonies worked out, four-part harmonies. It was fantastic. I knew it was gonna be a hit. You could just tell.”
The Eagles recorded five albums with Meisner, the self-titled debut, Desperado, On the Border, One of These Nights, and Hotel California. He then left the band in 1977 to be replaced by Timothy B. Schmit.
The bassist recorded and released three solo albums, 1978’s Randy Meisner, 1980’s One More Song, and a second self-titled effort in 1982. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Eagles in 1998.
In a statement confirming Meisner’s death, the Eagles wrote, “Randy was an integral part of the Eagles and instrumental in the early success of the band. His vocal range was astonishing, as is evident on his signature ballad, ‘Take It to the Limit.'”
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