Don Felder, who played lead guitar for The Eagles from 1974 to 2001, says he’s on good terms with his former bandmates now. However, that was far from always the case. Contrasting with the band’s soft-rock image, Felder and co-lead singer Glenn Frey had a strained relationship that ultimately led to the band’s undoing. On this day in 1980, a Long Beach, California audience witnessed The Eagles fall apart in real time.
The Eagles waving goodbye to the crowd, 1980. pic.twitter.com/0YjzXDG12h
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Why Did The Eagles Break Up in 1980?
Long-simmering resentments between Glenn Frey and Don Felder came to a head on July 31, 1980, during a celebratory benefit concert for Senator Alan Cranston in Long Beach, California.
The concert had been Frey’s idea, and Felder wasn’t thrilled about The Eagles dipping their toe into political waters. Still, “I knew that if ‘The Gods’ [Frey and drummer Don Henley] wanted to get into political campaigning, then I wasn’t in a position to argue,” the guitarist, now 77, wrote in his 2007 autobiography, Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles.
However, Felder couldn’t hide his distaste when the senator and his wife, Norma Weintraub, introduced themselves prior to the show. “Hello! Nice to meet you,” he responded, muttering, “I guess,” under his breath as they walked away.
Overhearing the slight, Frey promptly smashed the long-neck Bud he was drinking against the wall. By the time the band took the stage, “I was seething,” the late co-frontman recalled in the 2013 documentary History Of The Eagles. “I wanted to kill Felder.”
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“We walked onstage, and he came over while we were playing The Best of My Love and said, ‘F— you. I’m gonna kick your ass when we get off the stage,’” Felder said.
The whiskey continued flowing throughout the gig, and with it, the insults and threats. “We start getting towards the end of the set, and I’m looking at him going, ‘three more songs, a–hole,’ Frey remembered.
Eventually, the curtain fell—on both the performance and The Eagles. The “Hotel California” legends wouldn’t share a stage again for 14 years, when they reunited for Hell Freezes Over. Not coincidentally, the title also reflected the timeline Don Henley had given for when his bandmates would tour together again.
Featured image by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns