The on-stage fistfight that broke up the Eagles: “Three more songs ‘til I kick your ass”
The tumultuous inter-band struggles that plagued the Eagles would finally come to an end on stage. The group quickly evolved into one of the most successful outfits of all time, with their seminal album Hotel California becoming the soundtrack of a generation. While the studio had always been a place of heightened tension and potential drug-fuelled ruin, the stage was different. It had been a place where the band had usually come to forget the turmoil of being in one of the biggest groups of the 1970s.
The spotlight had been providing a warm refuge from their issues; however, on one fateful night, their tempestuous natures would get the better of them, and a fight would break out in front of the crowd and confirm that the Eagles would be no more.
In truth, the break-up had been on the cards for some time. Aside from the fact that most of the band was struggling with a substance abuse issue or two, the group also struggled artistically. Following a mega-successful album is a difficult thing to do, and the band’s 1976 effort Hotel California was so wildly successful that it was almost impossible to top.
In fact, some 50 years on, it still reigns as one of the most-bought LPs of all time. The mountain ahead was difficult for even the most seasoned climbers, but the challenge of making an even better album is usually what excites a group of artists. Hotel California made the promise that the Eagles were one of the best bands around.
So daunted by the prospect of having to reach a new summit, however, the group largely downed tools in fear. In fact, the sessions for their next record, The Long Run, went on for years. Picked up and put down, the songs were eventually cobbled together into a severely disjointed record that failed in its mission to be bigger and better than the last.
However, with record labels to please and an audience willing to buy tickets, the group set out on tour to support the album. It would result in singer and vocalist Glenn Frey coming to blows with the band’s other guitarist, Don Felder, during their show at Long Beach, California, on July 31st, 1980.
To make matters worse, the show wasn’t actually part of the band’s tour but was intended to be a fundraiser for Senator Alan Cranston. The Senator had spent much of the pre-event meet and greet thanking the band for showing to which, according to Frey, guitarist Felder responded with: “You’re welcome, Senator… I guess.”
“I felt Don Felder insulted Senator Cranston under his breath, and I confronted him with it. So now 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 later 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.’ That was when I knew I had to get out.”
Tensions would boil over, and as tempers flared, Felder ended the show by smashing a guitar against the wall backstage and intimidating the band members before speeding away in his waiting limo. It was a Hollywood ending for a band who had spent so much of their career soundtracking the glamorous neighbourhood. However, the reality of the group breaking up would soon dawn.
While many had hoped that this movie would have a quick reconciliation before creating more chart-topping music, that was not to be the case. It was the final time the Eagles would perform in their pomp, with Don Henley, Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh all moving on quickly to enjoy varyingly successful solo careers.
Their break-up wouldn’t be final, though, and the group would enjoy a few more acts. The band may have been happy to swat away rumours for years, but in 1993, they would reunite to appear in the video for Travis Tritt’s cover of ‘Take It Easy’. It was enough to tease fans of the group back into action.
With the clamour for a reunion at a fever pitch, the band gave their audience what they wanted and launched a full-scale reunion. However, it wouldn’t last too long, especially with Frey and Felder in their midst, and Felder was fired from the band in 2001, leaving the Eagles with their wings firmly clipped.
That wouldn’t stop the Eagles, though, and the band continues to tour today, with Deacon Frey replacing his father after Frey Sr’s sad passing.
The irony of a group of artists who made perhaps the easiest listening rock music you’ve ever heard, who likely soundtracked yoga sessions up and down the West Coast and have been the background music to millions of smiles, being so tightly wound with one another is not lost on their audience. However, in July of 1980, the chance for the Eagles to make good on the promise of Hotel California sadly was.
