Eagles, the

US rock group, most famous for the 1976 album Hotel California. The Eagles were one of the most successful rock groups of the 1970s, with their 1976 greatest hits album becoming the biggest-selling greatest hits album of all time.

The group was formed in 1971 in Los Angeles, California, as a back-up band to the rock singer Linda Ronstadt (1946– ). The original line-up was Glenn Frey (1948– , guitar), Bernie Leadon (1947– , banjo and mandolin), Randy Meisner (1948– , bass), and Don Henley (1947– , drums). Their first album was The Eagles (1972). Guitarist Don Felder (1947– ) joined the group in 1974, and the release that year of their third album, On the Border, brought the band great success.

In 1979, after Leadon and Meisner left the band and were replaced by Joe Walsh (1947– ) and Timothy B Schmit (1947– ), the album The Long Run was released. In 1981 the band split up, but were reunited during a recording session for MTV in 1993 – from this session a new album, Hell Freezes Over (1994), was released. All the members of the band have followed solo careers.