By the time Glenn Frey died, his creative partnership with Don Henley had become the very center of the Eagles. But the group always featured other voices. In fact, their self-titled 1972 debut didn’t include a single song co-written by Frey and Henley. All but one track on Side Two was sung by either Bernie Leadon or Randy Meisner. Of course, that balance of power ultimately wouldn’t last.
In contrast, eight out of 11 songs on the follow-up LP, 1973’s Desperado, were co-written at least in part by Frey and Henley. Even then, however, three of the album’s deep cuts featured different lead vocalists. And so it went, through their chart domination on 1976’s Hotel California and breakup after 1979’s The Long Run – by which time Joe Walsh and then Timothy B. Schmit had begun their long stints as successors to Leadon and Meisner, respectively.
Two of the entries on our list of 10 Best Eagles Songs Not Sung by Glenn Frey and Don Henley are from after their long-awaited early ’90s reunion, one each from Schmit and Walsh. By then, the Eagles had amassed a lifetime of great music – and plenty of it came courtesy of the other guys. Leadon and Schmit both check in with two songs, while Meisner and Walsh have three each. Which one goes the distance? To find out, keep reading the 10 Best Eagles Songs Not Sung by Glenn Frey and Don Henley.
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