Understanding the brutal and unrelenting feud that broke up the Eagles
Soft rock legends the Eagles are renowned for their evocative music, which fused Americana with the drug-influenced spirit of the 1970s, all kissed with the warmth of the Californian sun. Their discography conjures images of sunshine-soaked leather seats in convertibles, flowing silk shirts, and wearing shades indoors. Given this vibe, one might expect the band’s relationships to be all peace and love. However, despite their ties to the flower power era, the Eagles were often embroiled in bitter rivalries, legal battles, and intense internal feuding.
The band make a strong claim to be the foremost warring dynasty in rock, giving even Fleetwood Mac a run for their money. Running concurrently to the band’s collective musical brilliance were internal politics and fraught interpersonal relations that were only exacerbated by drug use, money and egos.
While it reads as a carbon copy of almost every rock and roll pastiche ever uttered into existence, the Eagles’ story seems all the more tragic due to their shiny sonic output and seemingly unstoppable run as one of the best-selling groups of all time. They now stand as the only band with two records in the ten best-selling albums of all time list—a fact that gives rise to the old adage, more money, more problems.
Famously, the Eagles’ first run lasted between 1971 and 1980 and imploded because of a treacherous feud at the band’s heart that effectively split it into two domineering camps. Bernie Leadon, who formed the Eagles alongside Frey, Henley and Randy Meisner, left in 1975—just as their hard work was coming to fruition. Sadly, he had felt that they had lost sight of their initial intent to blend country and rock and were becoming increasingly commercial. So, one evening when his misgivings were blanked for the last time, he poured a beer over Frey’s significant head and walked out of the room.
Although this comical incident proves that the group’s internal affairs were never straightforward, things were made a lot worse during the sessions for their masterwork Hotel California in 1976, which ironically would become one of the most successful records of all time but ultimately lead to their failure to stay together long enough to completely capitalise on it.
So, why did the Eagles break up?
During the recording of the LP, lead guitarist Don Felder intended to sing his original composition ‘Victim of Love’ very clearly, but the rest of the band wasn’t impressed with what he recorded. In the 2013 documentary The History of The Eagles, frontman Glenn Frey said: “Don Felder, for all of his talents as a guitar player, was not a singer”. Drummer Don Henley agreed, maintaining that it “simply did not come up to band standards”. It’s a tough call for any group to make, but for the Eagles, it would prove to be a spark that lit the touchpaper of a tinder keg.
In a move that underscores just how cutthroat the music business can be, particularly during a time when a single track could generate millions in revenue from sales, the Eagles took a drastic step one evening. While Don Felder was out having dinner with the band’s manager, Irving Azoff, the rest of the group wiped Felder’s vocals from a track and re-recorded them using Don Henley instead.
Understandably, this incensed Felder, and he never forgave them for their treachery. It had been one thing not to like his take, but to go behind his back and re-record his song with another singer’s voice felt like the ultimate betrayal of their bond as a group of artists. His disgruntlement caused ripples within an already fractious group, and soon weeds began to poke through the cracks, further distancing the warring factions.
Why did Randy Meisner quit the Eagles?
Meisner grew equally tired during this period. He felt like Henley and Frey were becoming “the Lennon/McCartney of the Eagles.” And he knew how that story ended, even for a band that had never endeavoured to be solely democratic in the first place, unlike their American counterparts. Even Henley, despite his leadership position in the band, knew that things had changed. “When we formed the band, it was supposed to be one of those ‘everybody’s equal’ affairs. We’d all sing and all write and so forth,” he reconciled.
But he also came to the conclusion that this outlook was naive idealism, commenting, “The fact is people aren’t all going to be able to do everything the same. It’s just like on a football team… Some people [are] quarterback and some people block. So we went through a lot of hassles for a while.”
Randy Meisner was also on the receiving end of that “hassle”. The demurring bassist later commented, “I wanted more of my opinions to be accepted…I wanted to sing more. I didn’t know the right way to criticise them.” One of his issues conveying his criticism not only pertained to his relative shyness but also the oft-unmentioned elephant in the room of the Eagles’ story—drinking and substance abuse were also becoming rife.
Meisner was even worried that he wasn’t in fit shape to hit the awkward high-note in his signature ballad, ‘Take it to the Limit’, a showcase piece that the group often rolled out during their encore. On the one hand, Frey seemed to think that if he couldn’t fulfil his finest contribution to the band, then why bother hanging around? On the other hand, Meisner figured the fingerprints of his contribution were all over the group’s output, and the only reason that was diminishing was because the hostile tours were leaving him increasingly weary.
So, one night when he refused to perform ‘Take it to the Limit’, he was proverbially pushed to his own. He alleged that Frey got in his face and called him a “pussy”, so he took a swing at him in what he calls “one lousy mistake” and that spelled his departure from the band. The fact that he later compared it to leaving the mob offers an illuminating insight into why things failed to get rosier for the roving country-rock legends once he walked away.
Did Hotel California break up the Eagles?
So, with Meinser missing, the show rambled on. But the wound Felder felt was hardly healed by time, either. The sore seconds ticked over, and their records remained a resounding success, perhaps signifying that Frey and Henley were on to something when they angled themselves away from country—this ratified the increasingly apparent dynamic that they were the controlling heads of the band.
But, soon enough, another old adage reared its ugly head, and following up on a masterpiece record with a new look formation would prove to be more difficult than they first assumed. They struggled to replicate its brilliance for its successor, The Long Run, and the sessions took 18 months, with it not released until September 1979.
Because of the ‘Victim of Love’ sleight, the spat between Felder, Frey and Henley became even more vitriolic, with him bitterly labelling the pair “The Gods”. As with any problem that’s left bubbling under the surface, it finally reached boiling point on July 31st, 1980, when the band played a benefit for California’s Democratic Senator Alan Cranston in Long Beach. It’s a moment that lives long in the annals of music history, as the night the Eagles broke themselves up.
Felder was not happy that the group were throwing their hat in the political ring, as he’d always wanted to stay clear of weighing into politics, and was angry that, again, he had to follow the orders of Henley and Frey. Before the show, the Eagles met Cranston, and he thanked each member for their appearance, to which the angry Felder replied sarcastically, “You’re welcome, Senator … I guess”.
Taken aback by what he perceived as Felder’s insolence, as soon as Cranston departed, Frey tore into his bandmate, which spilt over into their performance. You might think that when faced with a paying audience of thousands, the desire to deride your bandmate would subside. However, the Eagles didn’t let prying eyes get in the way of a good punch-up.
On the mic, he continued to make his thoughts known in front of thousands of fans, including Cranston. “We’re onstage, and Felder looks back at me and says, ‘Only three more songs till I kick your ass, pal.’ And I’m saying, ‘Great. I can’t wait,'” Frey recalled. “We’re out there singing ‘Best of My Love,’ but inside both of us are thinking, ‘As soon as this is over, I’m gonna kill him.'” The group would dismantle almost as soon as the curtain dropped. With business dealings also bruising the group, they were simply too battered to keep up the fight.
When did the Eagles reunite?
This was the band’s last performance until 1994, when they reunited for Hell Freezes Over and hit the road again. Their long-awaited return, accompanied by a piffy tour title relating to Henley’s comment that the group wouldn’t play again “until hell freezes over” when they first called it quits, was such a success that it saw them embark on global tours. Tickets were selling for record fees, and box sets were being rolled out faster than Donald Trump’s tariffs.
But the fresh ice rink of hell didn’t provide smooth skating for long. Before too long, Felder claimed he wasn’t being paid as much as Henley and Frey.
…and why was Don Felder fired from the Eagles?
Famously, the band had always split their revenue equally at their zenith, but now the guitarist claimed that Henley and Frey had demanded higher cuts. Frey was incensed. From his perspective, the group had finally put their issues behind them. He thought that he and Henley had worked hard to reprise the Eagles, and suddenly they were encountering another issue. Felder refused to relent, claiming he had been coerced into an unfair racket.
Angered by this, Henley and Frey fired Felder from the band in February 2001, and a period of protracted legal battles ensued. Felder opened suits for breach of contract and wrongful termination, which, after what seemed like an age, were settled out of court for an undisclosed fee, speculated to be tens of millions. Because it was settled out of court, Felder also got to retain his due royalties.
Unfortunately, Frey passed away in 2016, and he and Felder never buried the hatchet. The guitarist admitted to the press that he had hoped the two would let the past go and instead reminisce about the good old days, but it was not meant to be. In a strange way, his regret is indicative of the crux of the Eagles. Being in the band was like running a competitive marathon—a task filled with jostling and hardship, where it was a relief for it all to finish, but not something that you’d regret. The Long Run is as apt a title as you could possibly get.
