Glenn Frey once picked “the only asshole” in Eagles
The idea of the Eagles reuniting after 1980 felt like a pipe dream. Even though the band had enough hits for any other artist’s career, everything stopped after a fight in Long Beach, with guitarist Don Felder speeding away from a venue after arguing with frontman Glenn Frey onstage.
Although the band were on more civil terms during their reunion, it didn’t take long for blood to start boiling again.
Then again, Felder had usually been given a raw deal when working on his hits for the band. While he may have come up with the iconic chord progression to ‘Hotel California’, its accompanying album never left him satisfied. After insisting on singing the track ‘Victim of Love’, Felder was blindsided by the rest of the group when they recorded a new version of the song without him.
Once the band could operate on good terms, the live album Hell Freezes Over marked the first official Eagles release since the breakup, with Felder trading licks with Joe Walsh across new songs like ‘Learn To Be Still’ and ‘Get Over It’. When it came time to go out on tour for the next few years, though, Felder was not happy when he saw the paycheck he received every night.
When first putting together the contracts for the tour, Frey had made it clear that he wanted a larger say, telling History of the Eagles, “I went to [manager] Irving [Azoff] and said, ‘Irving, I won’t do it unless me and Don earn more money than the other guys. We’ve been the only people who have kept the band’s name alive after the breakup”.
Once Felder got cold feet towards the deal, though, Frey became furious, calling Felder’s manager with a band ultimatum. Recalling what he said, Frey remembered his exact words being, “‘Hello Barry, this is Glenn Frey. I’m sorry you happen to represent the only asshole in the band, but let me tell you something. Either Don Felder signs this contract by the end of the day today, or we find another guitar player. That’s the deal. He signs by sunset, or he’s out of the fucking band’. Then I hung up”.
Even though Felder signed the contract through gritted teeth, he didn’t feel like he was operating in the band in the traditional sense, explaining, “I didn’t feel a great sense of camaraderie. You hardly saw anybody whether it was going on the plane or on the stage”.
Even onstage, the chemistry that once made the Eagles a musical force felt more like a professional obligation. Felder later admitted that each performance felt like walking on eggshells, where every misstep could spark another behind-the-scenes blow-up. “You had this sense that everything could unravel at any second,” he said. “It wasn’t about the music anymore—it was about power, control, and keeping up appearances.”
The tension even spilled over into rehearsals, where creative decisions became battlegrounds. Felder, used to having a hand in arrangements, found his ideas consistently shut down. “There was a time when everyone had a say,” he recalled, “but now it felt like I was just showing up to play what they told me to.” That sense of exclusion gnawed at him, and while he tried to keep things professional, the cold atmosphere only deepened his resentment.
Instead of focusing on his job as lead guitarist, Felder was only concerned about money in Frey’s eyes, saying, “Don Felder was never, ever happy. It didn’t matter how much money he was making. He was more concerned about how much money I was making on the tour”.
After a few too many months of bad blood on the road, the band decided to part ways with Felder, eventually drafting Steuart Smith as their touring musician after his contributions to their comeback album, Long Road Out of Eden. While Felder wasn’t going to be stepped on about his paycheck, he did regret not being able to mend fences. When asked about getting fired, Felder talked about how hurt he was that everything fell through, recalling, “It just broke my heart. It’s not just about playing with Joe [Walsh]. I miss these guys, but I really miss the friendship and the music”.
