Singer-Songwriter Glenn Frey Dies At 67, Sending Shockwaves Throughout the music world
The music world has lost a legend: Glenn Frey, 67, a co-founding member and guitarist of The Eagles, died on Monday in New York City of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, sending shockwaves through the music world.
The Eagles had been scheduled to be part of last month's Kennedy Center Honor ceremony (December 6th) along with singer-songwriter Carole King. However with Glenn Frey’s health problems last month, it forces Eagles to defer their Kennedy Center Honor until this year in 2016. Frey has had a recurrence of “previous intestinal issues last month, which will require major surgery and a lengthy recovery period." Those issues date back to the 1980s, when Frey spoke about the damage he believed he had done to his body during the band’s heyday, when drugs and alcohol flowed freely. In 1986, he missed a reunion with his longtime bandmate Don Henley – the band had broken up for the first time in 1980 – at a benefit concert in California because of an intestinal disorder. An attempt to reform the Eagles in 1990 was put off, in part, because of surgery to remove a large part of Frey’s intestine. And in 1994, their “Hell Freezes Over” reunion tour was interupted by Frey’s bout with diverticulitis. It resumed the following year.
With five number-one singles, six Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards, and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California (Sold more than 32 million copies worldwide), were ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the United States according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone 's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and the band was ranked number 75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Eagles are one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 150 million records.
Frey is credited with co-writing many of The Eagles' best-known songs, including "Hotel California," "Heartache Tonight". "New Kid in Town", "Best of My Love" and "One Of These Nights", all hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts for the band. "Hotel California" has been a staple for all cover bands all over the world, the guitar solo is known as one of the best guitar solos of all time, by Guitar World magazine.
The group's first best-of collection, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, is among the best-selling albums of all time, having sold more than 26 million copies. It was the first album to be certified platinum (1 million sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America, which introduced that classification in 1976. They released four consecutive No. 1 albums between 1975 and 1979. ... They sold more albums in the '70s than any other American band. Moreover, though the band was inactive in the Eighties, their back catalog steadily sold 1.5 million copies a year."
The Eagles, founded in 1971 in Los Angeles, is one of the best-selling American rock bands of all time, notes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted The Eagles in 1998.
Glenn Frey has written (or co-written) a staggering 22 songs that have hit Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, including songs that are a staple of Classic Rock Radio stations all over the world:
Hotel California (#1 on Billboard Hot 100 Charts)
Heartache Tonight
