The decision Don Henley called “the scariest part of my life”
After managing the turmoils of the music business, it almost feels like nothing can phase you. Since most of the biggest names in music had been known to go through hell whenever they were on the road or in the studio, they usually built up a certain exterior that made them impenetrable to anything the critics or concert reviewers might have said. At the same time, the Eagles knew that lifestyle better than most, and one aspect of the industry ended up scaring the life out of Don Henley.
Before he had even started in the Eagles, though, Henley was already known to plan things out to the letter. Throughout his time working with Linda Ronstadt, Henley slowly started to form the idea of forming their own outfit, one day springing it on Glenn Frey to leave the singer-songwriter behind to create a new band.
On the first handful of Eagles projects, Henley was known as one of the unofficial ringleaders, working with Frey to create masterpieces like ‘Desperado’ and ‘Tequila Sunrise’. When the band started seeing mainstream recognition, some of Henley’s practices started to strain the rest of the band.
Off the back of One Of These Nights, Henley and Frey had a certain amount of quality control when it came to what made it on an album. Going into the creation of Hotel California, Henley wanted to create an album that would stand as the band’s masterpiece, shooting down any take deemed below the band’s standards.
Although the band would make something that would outlive them all, The Long Run represented the consequences of reaching the top of the charts. Fueled by mountains of cocaine and pressure from the record label, the band would eventually collapse in on itself, breaking up after a benefit concert in 1980.
Even though the band were fractured, Henley wasn’t willing to retire. Returning to the studio for the album I Can’t Stand Still, Henley was about to embark on the most successful solo career of his bandmates, eventually scoring massive hits with ‘Dirty Laundry’ and later with ‘The Boys of Summer’.
Despite fans wanting to hear what he was like as a solo artist, Henley was petrified about switching to being a solo star in the age of MTV, telling History of the Eagles, “Going solo was the scariest part of my life. The Eagles had been accused on more than one occasion of loitering onstage, so it was difficult for us loiters making the switch to videos and costumes and acting”.
While Petty would enjoy a fair bit of success off the back of albums like Building the Perfect Beast and The End of the Innocence, he would later say that he never felt comfortable as a solo star, explaining, “I felt I had done everything I wanted to achieve in my solo career. When you’re a solo act, all the pressure is on you. In a band, you get to share the praise and the blame among your bandmates”.
Henley wouldn’t have to wait long to embrace the band environment again, with the Eagles reuniting in the mid-1990s for the live album and subsequent tour for Hell Freezes Over. Though Henley’s solo songs would take up pieces of the setlist every night, his focus was more on the interaction among his bandmates than any solo adulation.
