Frey died in New York City after becoming ill of acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, according to his bandmates, as cited by the source above.
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In a surprising twist, Eagles manager Irving Azoff claims that Glenn Frey’s death was partially caused by medications he was taking to treat a pre-existing condition.
In the United States alone, the Eagles had five number one singles and four number one albums, and their greatest hits sold over 30 million copies, a phenomenal achievement. Their records remained consistent sellers, and they were a top touring act over the last 20 years even though Frey and Henley were the only remaining original members.
Frey was lead vocalist on the Eagles’ breakthrough hit, “Take It Easy”, a song mostly written by Jackson Browne that came out in 1972.
The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and was supposed to have been honored at the Kennedy Center last month, but the appearance was postponed because of Frey’s health.
The tensions had been exacerbated by drugs and alcohol, although the band members did not have the same bad-boy image as some of their peers. “Somewhere in between”, Frey told CBS television’s “60 Minutes” in 2007, referring to the notoriously rough-living Rolling Stones and the Mormon family singers The Osmonds.
“I don’t think it was a bad thing for the band to break up for 14 years”, Frey said in 2012.
“I miss him already”, Souther said. “But it works, it means whatever the listener wants it to mean”.
Glenn Frey death has since shocked fans all over the world.
Frey’s bandmate Don Henley said the guitarist was like a brother to him, regardless of The Eagle’s fractious relationship over their 45-year history and he gave him credit for starting the group.
The statement added: “Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community & millions of fans worldwide”.
“By ’76, ’77, Glenn and I were living in a big house that belonged to Dorothy Lamour, up in the hills with a 360-degree view”, Henley said on the website superseventies.com.
The greatest irony of Frey’s incredible career was how tender and sentimental his songs could be but how cold, demanding and unforgiving he could be in the music business.
And “Hotel California” was just one of the Eagles’ tunes to peak atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Heartache Tonight”, “New Kid In Town”, “One of These Nights” and “Best of My Love” also went to No. 1.
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Frey and Henley battled over creative control and other matters; Frey, whom People magazine once referred to as the Warren Beatty of rock, has acknowledged a certain profligate lifestyle during the band’s first decade.
