Don Henley Once Revealed That Some Eagles Members Could Have Easily Been Replaced: “The Band Would Go On”
Eagles have been around for decades, and the band has gone through several members. It’s not exactly uncommon for a famous rock band to have a bit of a revolving door of members, though Eagles, specifically, is on the mild side of that notion. Some bands from their era went through dozens of members. Still, Eagles’ famous frontman, Don Henley, more or less had the power to let go of whoever he wanted. And back in 2013, in an interview with The New York Times, Henley was frank about the fact that there were members of Eagles that he could have replaced… and it wouldn’t have affected much.
In the interview, both Don Henley and the late Glenn Frey sat down with Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times to reflect on the history of their legendary band. The interview was more or less pleasant, but one comment that Henley made stuck out.
In the interview, Itzkoff brought up a then-recent documentary that had come out about the band. Referencing the doc, Itzkoff mentioned that the lineup of Eagles was constantly shifting for a while, and asked if that constant shifting made the band stronger.
“The ride wasn’t for everybody,” Frey replied. “Some people stayed on the bus longer. It started with the disenchantment of Bernie Leadon, and that was something we had to deal with.”
Don Henley Once Claimed That “Some People Were Replaceable” in Eagles
For reference, Bernie Leadon was the last original member of Eagles to join the band. He was quite a talented instrumentalist in the group and contributed to their instantly successful debut self-titled album in 1972. However, Leadon wasn’t happy that the band was drifting away from country and bluegrass, and wasn’t satisfied with being part of an arena rock band. He quite famously left the band in 1975 after dumping a beer on Frey’s head.
Following Frey’s comment, Henley was a bit more direct about how the band functioned, particularly after the departure of Leadon.
“We had been given the impression by our early management that if we didn’t keep the four original members, we wouldn’t have a chance,” said Henley. “So we labored under that fear for a long time. Then we realized after Bernie left, and then Randy [Meisner] left, that some people were replaceable, and life would go on and the band would go on. Because the band was built around songs – not around personalities, not around a front man, but the music.”
So, there you have it. Basically, outside of Henley and Frey, virtually any members who were then-currently part of The Eagles could have been replaced. Maybe even Henley and Frey were replaceable, since the band was about the music and not the members. And while that notion is harsh, I kind of get it. Most of Eagles’ magic revolved around Frey and Henley. And since Frey’s death in 2016, it’s kind of a miracle that Eagles still exist. Henley himself said that he didn’t think the band would perform again after Frey’s passing. And yet, they endure, with the added bonus of having Vince Gill in the mix.
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