Eagles Pay Tribute To Glenn Frey In Recent Detroit Show

Eagles‘ surviving members honored their late co-founder Glenn Frey in his hometown Detroit as part of the Hotel California Tour on March 24.

Frey passed away in January 2016 from complications caused by several health issues. In 1971, Don Henley started the Eagles with Frey after they played in Linda Ronstadt’s band.

Henley told the crowd during the three-hour show at Little Caesars Arena:

“It’s always a little bittersweet to come play here, but we are forever connected with you. We miss our founder, but his legacy is going to live on in every song we play for you.”

Before the band ended their show with a performance of classic “Best of My Love,” Henley said:

“Back in 1974, Glenn and J.D. Souther started writing this next song and were kind enough to bring me in on it. I want you to sing along. I’m gonna sing this for Glenn.”

While Joe Walsh offered his own tribute and dedicated a performance of his 1978 solo hit “Life’s Been Good” to Frey. It was the Eagles’ third stop at Frey’s hometown. Vince Gill took the place of Frey’s vocals on songs such as “New Kid in Town,” “Take It Easy” and “Lyin’ Eyes.”

The group also made a shoutout to hometown hero Bob Seger after they closed their main set with “Heartache Tonight.” Henley told the crowd:

“I want to thank Bob Seger, who helped us write that song.”

Earlier this month, when Souther was on his own solo tour of the U.S., he told UCR how Seger came to be part of the song that became a chart-topping lead-off single from 1979’s The Long Run. He shared:

“Glenn and I were sitting at my house listening to some Sam Cooke songs one day…walking around my swimming pool, smoking and snapping our fingers, and we just sang that first verse — no instrument.

“And we wrote two verses and thought, ‘Damn, I think we have something here that’s pretty good.’ We couldn’t think of a chorus…and I think Glenn had Seger on the phone and played it for him, then he picked up the phone and Bob sings the chorus and [Frey] was like, ‘OK, you’re in.’ He calls me and says, ‘How do you feel about four writers on this song instead of three?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s cutting the money [share] thin,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah, but not if it’s a real big hit.’ I said, ‘That’s true. Who’s the fourth?’ He said, ‘Seger,’ and I went, ‘OK…’ The next time I actually heard it was over the radio.”