History Music / Eagles

!!Tropes present:

* MetalScream: Not quite "metal" but Randy Meisner's high notes in "Take It to the Limit" sounds like a screeching eagle soaring to the limits of the sky, befitting the song's title. More so in his live performances of the song; fans went ''nuts'' when he hit those high notes (an F#[[subscript:5]] according to Website/{{Wikipedia}}, which has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eagles_-_Take_It_to_the_Limit.ogg a sample]] of a 1976 live performance found on ''Eagles Live'' that proves just how insanely high that is), though Meisner ''dreaded'' having to sing the song out of fear of not being able to hit those notes, eventually leading to his departure from the band).

* BittersweetEnding: The main theme of "After The Thrill Is Gone" (What can you do when your dreams come true / And it's not quite like you planned?)

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: They’re almost as famous for their infighting as they are for their music. For reference, while mixing the live album, Henley and Frey not only refused to be in the same studio but also the same ''state '' as each other.

* TruckDriversGearChange: "Hole In The World" has a classic example.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The song "The Long Run" is partially about their fractured friendship.
** Don Felder and Glenn Frey. While much is made of their often Acrimonious relationship(and how their brawl was the catalyst to the first ending of the group), Felder expressed regret that they were unable to make up before Frey died.

* CoverVersion: Creator/TomWaits' "Ol' 55" (''On the Border''), Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" (''Eagles Live'').

* '''Randy Meisner''' – bass, backing and lead vocals, guitar, guitarrón (1971–77)

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Eaglesold_4489.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:325:Eagles, circa 1976. From left to right: Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner.]]

They started as a backup band for Music/LindaRonstadt, consisting of guitarists Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon, bassist Randy Meisner and drummer Don Henley. Noticing they worked well together, she encouraged them to go on their own. They started out as a country-rock group before moving on to more mainstream sounds and shuffling members; Eagles found their way to super-stardom around 1974, the year guitarist Don Felder joined. In 1975, Leadon quit and was replaced by former James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh, and the band would reach their greatest success with the 1976 release of their album ''Music/HotelCalifornia''.

Many of their songs revolve around or at least touch upon the ugly side of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream that nobody talks about, which the band members felt they knew quite a lot about by the middle part of their career. Possibly worth noting is that their first GreatestHitsAlbum was the best-selling album in United States history for over three decades; its status only changed in 2009 because Music/MichaelJackson [[PosthumousPopularityPotential died]]. The band would reclaim the title again in 2018, which also led to said greatest hits album surpassing Music/{{ACDC}}'s ''Music/BackInBlack'' as the second biggest-selling album ''in the world''. Randy Meisner quit in 1977, replaced by Timothy B. [[MyNaymeIs Schmit]] (who also replaced Meisner in Poco). The band broke up following an infamous concert in July 1980 that featured Frey and Felder threatening each other throughout the performance. Each of the members went on (or in Walsh's case, back) to a solo career, although Henley and Frey were the most successful.

* EnsembleCast: Straight and averted – they began with the concept of splitting everything (almost) equally, but by the end, it was obvious that Glenn Frey and Don Henley dominated the songwriting and singing, not to mention decision making. One of Frey's conditions for the band's reunion in 1994 was that he and Henley should make more money than the others, as he saw the band not as 'the musketeers' but as a sports team where all the players are important but some are ''more'' important than others. That caused a lot of tension with Don Felder and ultimately led to the latter's firing from the group.

* EnsembleCast: Straight and averted – they began with the concept of splitting everything (almost) equally, but by the end, it was obvious that Glenn Frey and Don Henley dominated the songwriting and singing, not to mention decision making. One of Frey's conditions for the band's reunion in 1994 was that he and Henley should make more money, as he saw the band not as 'the musketeers' but as a sports team where all the players are important but some are ''more'' important than others. That caused a lot of tension with Don Felder and ultimately led to the latter's firing from the group.

* EnsembleCast: Straight and averted - they began with the concept of splitting everything (almost) equally, but by the end, it was obvious that Glenn Frey and Don Henley dominated the songwriting and singing, not to mention decision making. One of Frey's conditions for the band's reunion in 1994 was that he and Henley should make more money, as he saw the band not as 'the musketeers' but as a sports team where all the players are important but some are ''more'' important than others. That caused a lot of tension with Don Felder and ultimately led to the latter's firing from the group.

* CoverVersion: Creator/TomWaits' "Ol' 55" (on ''On the Border''), Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" (on ''Eagles Live'').

* CastingCouch: "King Of Hollywood".

* CoverVersion: Creator/TomWaits' "Ol' 55" (on ''On the Border), Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" (on ''Eagles Live'').

* CoverVersion: Creator/TomWaits' "Ol' 55", on ''On the Border''; Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road", on ''Eagles Live''.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Eaglesold_4489.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Eagles, circa 1976. From left to right: Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner.]]

They started as a backup band for Music/LindaRonstadt; the band consisting of guitarists Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon, bassist Randy Meisner and drummer Don Henley. She noticed that they worked well together, then encouraged them to go on their own. They started out as a country-rock group before moving on to more mainstream sounds and dropping members; Eagles found their way to super-stardom around 1974, the year guitarist Don Felder joined. In 1975, Leadon quit and was replaced by former James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh, and the band would reach their greatest success with the 1976 release of their album ''Hotel California''.

* CrapsackWorld: several of their songs, but "Life in the Fast Lane" is probably the harshest.

* LeadBassist: Both Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmidt, by virtue of being part of the VocalTagTeam and sharing writing credits.

* TheAlcoholic: Walsh. "I only got drunk once, [[DistinctionWithoutADifference for thirty years]]."

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: The songs on ''The Long Run'' run from blue-eyed soul, hard rock, funk, and even Music/SteelyDan-esque jazz-rock.

* LeadDrummer: Don Henley, by virtue of being lead vocalist for more songs than anyone else in the group. His picture [[ImageSource is the one at the top of the trope page]].

** The third, sometimes compared to a short musical Series/TheTwilightZone episode, is when the lyrics are taken literally. The Hotel California is an {{Eldritch|Location}} InnBetweenTheWorlds that [[LotusEaterMachine lures in passersby and traps them in a paradise]] while it [[EmotionEater slowly makes them forget the world]]. The final two verses of the song are the protagonist realizing that ThisIsntHeaven.

Many of their songs revolve around or at least touch upon the ugly side of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream that nobody talks about, which the band members felt they knew quite a lot about by the middle part of their career. Possibly worth noting is that their first GreatestHitsAlbum was the best-selling album in United States history for over three decades; its status only changed in 2009 because Music/MichaelJackson [[DeadArtistsAreBetter died]]. The band would reclaim the title again in 2018, which also led to said greatest hits album surpassing Music/{{ACDC}}'s ''Music/BackInBlack'' as the second biggest-selling album ''in the world''. Randy Meisner quit in 1977, replaced by Timothy B. [[MyNaymeIs Schmit]] (who also replaced Meisner in Poco). The band broke up following an infamous concert in July 1980 that featured Frey and Felder threatening each other throughout the performance. Each of the members went on (or in Walsh's case, back) to a solo career, although Henley and Frey were the most successful.