Glenn Frey dies; lead singer of the Eagles

Glenn Frey, 67, the Detroit-born singer who co-fronted the Eagles, the archetypal and massively popular 1970s Southern California rock band, and with Don Henley made up one of the most commercially successful songwriting teams in rock history, has died.

Mr. Frey, who sang many of the band's biggest hits, including "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Already Gone," "New Kid in Town," and "Take It Easy" (which he cowrote with Jackson Browne), died Monday in New York City of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia, according to the band's website.

He had played with the band on a "History of the Eagles" tour that ended in July, but the group postponed its acceptance of the Kennedy Honors in Washington in December due to Mr. Frey's intestinal issues, "which will require major surgery and a lengthy recovery period," it said at the time.

The guitarist got his start playing in a series of 1960s Michigan bands and played guitar on Bob Seger's 1968 hit "Ramblin' Gamblin Man." (Seger later cowrote "Heartache Tonight," a Frey-sung Eagles hit in 1979.)

Mr. Frey moved to Los Angeles in 1969 and fell in with a crowd that included Browne; J.D. Souther, with whom he formed the short-lived group Longbranch Pennywhistle; and Henley. Along with Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon, Mr. Frey and Henley first played together as Linda Ronstadt's band at Disneyland in 1971.

Soon afterward, they formed the Eagles, whose 1972 self-titled debut on David Geffen's Asylum label proffered a polished sound that scored hits with "Take It Easy," "Witchy Woman," and "Peaceful Easy Feeling."

When Mr. Frey's death was announced Monday, Henley said his bandmate "was like a brother to me; we were family, and like most families, there was some dysfunction."

Recalling the band's beginnings, the Texas native said: "We were two young men who made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles with the same dream. ... But Glenn was the one who started it all. He was the spark plug, the man with the plan. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a work ethic that wouldn't quit. He was funny, bullheaded, mercurial, deeply talented, and driven."

With a country-rock sound that emphasized the harmonies of Mr. Frey, Henley, and Meisner, and a smoothed-over regional twang, the Eagles were, along with Fleetwood Mac, the biggest sellers of the laid-back Los Angeles scene of the '70s, which also included torch singer Ronstadt, confessional-political songwriter Browne, and hard-boiled tough guy Warren Zevon.

The band released six hit albums in the decade, the biggest being 1976's Hotel California - the signature hit featuring the "dark desert highway" lyrics by Mr. Frey, sung by Henley - which has sold 16 million copies in the United States. But even that number pales in comparison to Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), which at 29 million copies ranks behind only Michael Jackson's Thriller as the biggest-selling album in U.S. history.

The Eagles broke up in 1980, but Mr. Frey had solo success that decade with movie and TV tie-ins. His big hits were "The Heat Is On," from the 1984 Eddie Murphy movie Beverly Hills Cop, and "You Belong to the City" and "Smuggler's Blues," both featured on Miami Vice, with the latter the title to an episode Mr. Frey costarred in.

After 14 years, the Eagles reunited on 1994's Hell Freezes Over tour, among the first to charge more than $100 per ticket. And as the group continued to tour over the years - and recorded one studio album, Long Road Of Eden, in 2007 - its influence spread to a new generation of country radio stars who connect with the '70s soft-rock sound of the band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

The disappointing performance of his 1992 album, Strange Weather, led Mr. Frey to give up solo recording for two decades, but in 2012 he returned with After Hours, an album of great American songbook standards.

A note on the Eagles website signed by members of the band and Mr. Frey's family said: "Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all he has given to us, his family, the music community & millions of fans worldwide."

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