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Thu 14 May 2026 21:02, UK
A drummer who is also a singer is a rare thing, often requiring someone to be operating on two different rhythms, one in their hands and one coming out of their mouth. It’s also a sound technician’s worst nightmare, as trying to mic up a drummer player so their vocals don’t get drowned out is a skill in itself.
So, while Don Henley typically made that easier for them by stepping out from behind his kit when he sang, it doesn’t take away from the talent – one he learnt from looking towards another multi-skilled player.
When the Eagles first met and formed, everything fell into place. Glenn Frey and Don Henley were first connected through Linda Ronstadt, as both played in her backing band. Frey was firmly on guitar, Henley firmly on drums. Like any classic rock band, they rarely strayed from their roles, each musician sticking to their area of expertise.
But when they came together to form their own troupe, their job titles got murkier. Immediately, on their debut album, Henley was singing lead on songs like ‘Witchy Woman’, going on to provide the vocals for many of the band’s biggest hits. While also providing guitars and drums to the songs, Henley was doing the job of three men as his talent couldn’t be confined at the back of the stage behind the kit.
That versatility became one of the defining traits of the Eagles’ sound. Henley’s voice carried a natural weariness and emotional grit that balanced the smoother harmonies shared throughout the band. Whether he was delivering the bitterness of ‘Desperado’ or the cynicism of ‘Hotel California’, there was always a conversational quality to his singing that made the songs feel grounded, even when the arrangements became polished and grandiose.
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It also separated him from many other drummer-vocalists in rock history. Where some singers behind the kit relied on sheer energy, Henley approached performances with restraint and precision, focusing on serving the song rather than drawing attention to himself. That philosophy mirrored Starr’s approach perfectly. Neither musician cared much for turning drumming into a spectacle because both understood that timing, feel and atmosphere mattered far more than showing off technical ability.
“What does Modern Drummer want with me anyway? I’m no drummer,” Henley said to Modern Drummer magazine. He doesn’t look towards typical drummers for inspiration, nor does he drum like any typical player – but neither does his own favourite player.
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“I don’t care what anybody says about Ringo. I cut my rock ‘n’ roll teeth listening to him,” Henley said, picking out The Beatles’ Ringo Starr as his favourite player. While it’s often, and wrongly, quoted that John Lennon once mocked that Starr wasn’t even “the best drummer in the Beatles”, the talent, skill and vision of the player is a unique one that perhaps only other drummers can appreciate.
Starr, similarly to Henley, doesn’t drum like a typical rock player. “People always feel it’s weird, but I never listened just for the drums,” Starr said in a conversation with Dave Grohl. He admitted that he doesn’t care about drum solos or flashy percussion sections. Instead, he said, “I listened for the whole track.” For him, the entire song has to be viewed as one big picture, which would certainly be inspiring for Henley, who plays a major role in several parts of the Eagles’ big picture.
Similarly to Henley, Starr also stepped out from behind the kit to take up the role as the lead singer, both on a few Beatles tracks and in his solo work. Sharing the same skill for musical multi-tasking and both sharing a disregard for typical rock and roll drumming or flashy drum parts, it’s easy to see why Henley would admire the Liverpudlian player so much.
Inspiring him to go beyond being tunnel-visioned on just the instrument he was sitting behind, Henley’s love for Starr could make sense of his own band’s loose approach to strict job roles.
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