The musician Don Henley called “a talentless little prick”
As a member of the Eagles, Don Henley is no stranger to ill-feeling. This is particularly true because of his prominent role in the group, as he isn’t simply the band’s drummer but one of their primary songwriters and general creative directors.
Perhaps Henley’s most famous spat comes from his notorious fracas with Don Felder, the former lead guitarist of the Californian group, who released a tell-all memoir in 2007 which painted Henley and the band’s late co-leader, Glenn Frey, in a damning light. Felder also brought an incendiary lawsuit against the group after he was fired in 2001. In it, the guitarist alleged that after the 1994 Hell Freezes Over tour, Henley and Frey “insisted that they each receive a higher percentage of the band’s profits”. Before, the proceeds had been split equally into five between each member.
This public acrimony is something that Henley has long been used to, given that he has endured spats with a host of different people in and outside the confines of his band. Unwavering in speaking his mind, this nature has produced a host of notable clashes.
Strangely, one person who has felt the wrath of Don Henley is American singer-songwriter and rapper Frank Ocean. This ensued after Ocean sampled the Eagles’ signature hit, 1977’s ‘Hotel California’ on the song ‘American Wedding’ from his debut mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra. At the time, Ocean claimed on Tumblr that he did it because he “loved Don Henley…the Eagles…and Joe Walsh’s immaculate guitar playing”.
However, Henley was not a fan, and Ocean again wrote on Tumblr that Henley’s lawyers threatened him shortly after the record arrived. “Don Henley is apparently intimidated by my rendition of Hotel California,” Ocean wrote on the social media site. “He threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think that’s fuckin awesome”.
Ocean added: “Ain’t this guy rich as fuck? Why sue the new guy? I didn’t make a dime off that song. I released it for free. If anything I’m paying homage.”
When speaking to The Guardian in 2015, Henley would make his thoughts clear on the young upstart and the whole debacle. “Some of these young kids have grown up in a world that doesn’t understand or respect copyright material or intellectual property,” he said. “They look at songs as interactive playthings.”
“I didn’t think he was cool,” Henley continued. “I thought he was a talentless little prick. And I still do.”
Asked if he’d feel different if it was Kanye West, Henley maintained that he’d be equally aggrieved. “No, I’d be just as pissed off,” he insisted. “I don’t like him, either”. It would appear that you don’t have to be in the Eagles to feel the wrath of Don Henley.
Listen to both tracks below.
