The Eagles
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Discography | Eagles discography |
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The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles, six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America and are one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold more than 200 million records worldwide,[1] including 100 million sold in the US alone.[2] They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and were ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone‘s 2010 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.[3] Founding members Glenn Frey (guitars, vocals), Don Henley (drums, vocals), Bernie Leadon (guitars, vocals), and Randy Meisner (bass guitar, vocals) had all been recruited by Linda Ronstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her self-titled third solo studio album (1972), before venturing out on their own as the Eagles on David Geffen’s new Asylum Records label.
Their debut studio album, Eagles (1972), spawned two top-20 singles in the US and Canada: “Take It Easy” and “Witchy Woman”. The next year’s follow-up album, Desperado, peaked at only number 41 in the US, although the title song became a popular track. In 1974, guitarist Don Felder joined, and On the Border produced the top-40 hit “Already Gone” and the Eagles’ first number-one song in the US and Canada, “Best of My Love”, which made the top 15 in Australia, their first hit overseas. In 1975, the album One of These Nights became their first number-one album in the US and a top ten album in many countries. It included the US number-one hit “One of These Nights”, which was their first top ten hit outside of North America, and US top-5 songs “Lyin’ Eyes” and “Take It to the Limit”. Also in 1975, Leadon left the band and was replaced by guitarist and vocalist Joe Walsh.
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) (1976) is the best-selling album in the United States, with 38 million copies sold, and primed the public for the late 1976 release of Hotel California, which would sell more than 26 million copies in the US (ranking third all-time for US sales), and more than 32 million copies worldwide. The album yielded two number-one singles in the US and Canada, “New Kid in Town” and “Hotel California”, the latter of which became their only top-10 hit in the United Kingdom, while also reaching the top ten in New Zealand and many European countries, including number two in France.
