Rock History

2004 – Faded teen idol Peter Andre tops the U.K. singles charts with a re-release of his 1996 song “Mysterious Girl.”

Ray Charles

2005 – Ray Charles’ posthumous duets record Genius Loves Company ascends to the No. 1 album spot in the U.S. following his multiple Grammy wins. Highest new entry is the compilation Disneymania 3, in at No. 46.

2004 – Britney Spears tops the UK singles chart with “Toxic.”

2004 – Usher remains atop the U.S. singles chart with “Yeah!” Yeah, let’s Usher in the Rock!

2002 – Alanis Morissette releases her third chart-topping album Under Rug Swept, featuring the single “Hands Clean.”

1995 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Take a Bow,” Madonna.

1984 – Michael Jackson wins eight Grammys, all connected to his album “Thriller.” Eddie VanHalen is a Noted player on Beat it!

Thriller is the sixth solo album by American pop singer Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982 on Epic Records and the second of his three albums with producer Quincy Jones. With sales of approximately 104 million, it is the best-selling album ever and made Jackson’s fame global. In 2007, NARM/The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranked Thriller third on their “Definitive 200″ albums list.

Thriller is one of only three albums to remain in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for a full year, spending 80 consecutive weeks there, 37 at #1. It was the first of three albums to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles and the only album to date to be the best-seller of two years (1983-1984) in the USA. It still sells an estimated 130,000 units in the USA per year. In 2008, the Thriller album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Recording and release
Recorded between April and November 1982, with several members of Toto, Thriller was the second of Jackson albums Quincy Jones produced. Showing growing creativity, Jackson wrote four of Thriller’s songs. Following the hit with “The Girl is Mine”, a pop duet with then-friend Paul McCartney, the single “Billie Jean” made Thriller a chart topper. Jackson performed the hit on Motown 25, showing off his signature “moonwalk” dance move to an enormous audience. Success expanded with crossover rock hit “Beat It” featuring guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

Jackson was nominated for twelve Grammy Awards in 1984, winning a record breaking eight in a year. Seven were for Thriller (including the award for “Album of the Year”) and the other for the E.T. storybook track “Someone In The Dark”. That same year, Jackson also won eight American Music Awards and the “Special Award of Merit” and three MTV Video Music Awards. At 25, The New York Times called Jackson a “musical phenomenon”, commenting that “in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else.” Time magazine explained that “the fallout from Thriller has given the music business its best years since the heady days of 1978, when it had an estimated total domestic revenue of $4.1 billion.” Thriller also helped bring African-American music back into mainstream radio for the first time since the mid-1970s.

Still popular, Thriller reached #2 in the US Catalog charts in February 2003, and #39 in the UK in March. Recently, it charted in the Catalogue charts in May 2007 and the UK charts and in November 2007 “Thriller” re-charted in the UK at #57. On February 14, 2008 it re-charted in Ireland at #5.

Track list
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (Jackson) – 6:02 (US#5, UK#8)
“Baby Be Mine” (Temperton) – 4:20
“The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney)” (Jackson) – 3:42 (US#2, UK#8)
“Thriller” (Temperton) – 5:57 (US#4, UK#10)
“Beat It” (Jackson) – 4:17 (US#1, UK#3)
“Billie Jean” (Jackson) – 4:57 (US#1 UK#1)
“Human Nature” (Bettis/Porcaro) – 4:05 (US#7)
“P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” (Ingram/Jones) – 3:58 (US#10, UK#11)
“The Lady in My Life” (Temperton) – 4:57

High profile samples/covers
In 2006, Charlotte Church and Amy Winehouse sang “Beat It” at the end of The Charlotte Church Show’s first series.
On December 10, 2007, Alicia Keys sang “Human Nature” at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo.
“Good Life” by Kanye West features keys from “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
“Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna sampled “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”
“Right Here/Human Nature” by SWV sampled “Human Nature”
“The Way It Is” by The Prodigy sampled “Thriller”

Music videos and MTV
It is often claimed Jackson was the first person to make an art out of music videos, with story-telling and choreography styles that continue to influence. Short films like “Thriller” largely remained unique to Jackson, but the group dance sequence in “Beat It” has been frequently imitated and the group dance in “Thriller” became part of global pop culture, being replicated everywhere from Bollywood to American prisons.

Central to Michael Jackson’s success with music videos was new channel MTV, which put his videos in heavy rotation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Before then, Jackson struggled to get MTV to air his videos because he was black. To change this, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff denounced MTV, warning, “I’m pulling everything we have off the air, all our product. I’m not going to give you any more videos. And I’m going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy”. This harsh, rhetoric stance worked; MTV started showing “Billie Jean”, forming a partnership with Jackson to last decades, helping future black artists.

When the 14-minute-long “Thriller” video aired in December 1983, MTV ran it up to twice an hour to meet demand. The horror theme reportedly scared many viewers, especially children. It marked an increase in scale for music videos and is often claimed as the best-ever music video.[30] MTV, a struggling cable channel, became huge. Jackson’s videos were credited to this success[39] and MTV’s focus switched from rock music to more and pop and R&B.

Certifications/chart history
Country Certification Sales Country Certification Sales Country Certification Sales
Argentina 10x Platinum 500,000 Australia 12x Platinum 850,000 Brazil 6x Diamond 2,000,000
Belgium 11x Platinum 550,000 Canada 2x Diamond 2,000,000 Finland 3x Platinum 90,000
France 3x Diamond 3,000,000 Germany 3x Platinum 1,500,000 Japan 2x Diamond 2,500,000
Mexico Diamond 500,000 Netherlands 11x Platinum 880,000 New Zealand Diamond 150,000
Portugal 3x Platinum 140,000 Spain 8x Platinum 640,000 Switzerland 6x Platinum 240,000
UK 11x Platinum 3,570,000 USA 27x Platinum 27,000,000

Thriller spent 37 weeks (26 February, 1983-20 April, 1984) at #1 in the US, 144 days in 1983 and 111 days in 1984, before remaining in the charts for a further 85 weeks.

Thriller credits
Producer: Quincy Jones
Co-producer, lead and backup vocals: Michael Jackson
Guitar: David Williams, Dean Parks, Steve Lukather, Paul Jackson
Bass: Louis Johnson, Steve Lukather
Saxophone and flute: Larry Williams
Trumpet and flügelhorn: Jerry Hey, Gary Grant
Trombone: Bill Reichenbach
Drums: Jeff Porcaro and N’dugu Chancler
Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
Keyboards/synthesizers/programming: Greg Phillinganes, Steve Porcaro, David Paich, Brian Banks
Keyboards/synthesizers: Michael Boddicker, David Foster, Bill Wolfer, Rod Temperton
Synthesizer programming: Anthony Marinelli
Horn and string arrangements: Jerry Hey
Backup vocals: James Ingram, Bunny Hull and Becky Lopez
Recording engineer/mixer: Bruce Swedien
Technical engineer: Matt Forger

Additional credits
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” – vocal/horn arrangement: Jackson, rhythm arrangement: Jackson /Jones

Backup vocals:

Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters,
“Baby Be Mine” – arrangement: Temperton

Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes
“The Girl Is Mine” (with Paul McCartney) – vocal arrangement: Jackson/Jones, rhythm arrangement: Jones/Glately

String conductor: Jerry Hey
Concertmaster: Jerry Vinci
“Thriller” – arrangement: Temperton

Rap: Vincent Price
Effects: Bruce Cannon and Bruce Swedien
“Beat It” – vocal arrangement: Jackson, rhythm arrangement: Jackson/Jones

Guitar solo: Eddie Van Halen
“Billie Jean” – arrangement: Jackson

String conductor: Jeremy Lubbock
“Human Nature” – arrangement: Paich/Porcaro/Lukather
“P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” – arrangement: Ingram/Jones

Keyboards: James Ingram
Backup vocals: Janet Jackson, LaToya Jackson, and Howard Hewitt
“The Lady in My Life” – arrangement: Temperton

1979 – The Police release their single “Roxanne.” It becomes their first American hit, peaking at No. 32.

1977 – Fleetwood Mac: Rumours hits UK LP chart.

1977 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “New Kid in Town,” Eagles. The single, the first release from the album “Hotel California,” is the group’s first to be certified gold for selling more than 1 million copies.
The Eagles are an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1970s. With five Number 1 singles and six Number 1 albums, the Eagles were among the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 and Hotel California, ranked among the ten best-selling albums according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The best-selling studio album Hotel California is rated as the 37th album in the Rolling Stone list “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, and the band was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone’s 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.They are also the best-selling American group ever, with Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 being the best-selling album in the U.S. to date.

The Eagles broke up in 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They have toured intermittently since then, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Formation
The band formed in 1971 when Linda Ronstadt’s then-manager, John Boylan, recruited Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner from their previous affiliations to back Ronstadt. They were short a drummer until Frey telephoned Don Henley, whom he had met at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. After auditioning for Ronstadt, she approved and the band backed her up on a two month tour and provided the opportunity for their first album recording, on her 1970 album Silk Purse. After their tenure with Ronstadt and with her encouragement, they then decided to form their own band, signing in 1970 to Asylum Records, the new label started by David Geffen. Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts also initially managed the band. The new group chose the name the Eagles as a nod to The Byrds (Leadon had been in Dillard & Clark with former Byrds singer Gene Clark and in The Flying Burrito Brothers with former Byrds Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke).

Eagles
Their first album, Eagles, was filled with natural, sometimes innocent country rock, and yielded three Top 40 singles. The first single, “Take It Easy,” was a song written by Glenn Frey and his neighbor and fellow country-folk rocker Jackson Browne. Frey heard Browne recording it, contributed two lines to it (for which he got co-writing credit) and asked if the Eagles could use it. Browne agreed and the song reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and propelled the Eagles to stardom. The single was followed by the bluesy “Witchy Woman” and the soft country rock ballad “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” charting at No. 9 and No. 22 respectively. The Eagles were a major force in popularizing the Southern California country rock sound around the nation. Rolling Stone magazine’s 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” ranked Eagles at number 374.

Desperado

Eagles playing dead on back cover of Desperado photographed by Henry Diltz (The two additional “bodies” are those of J.D. Souther and Jackson Browne)Their second album, Desperado, was themed on Old West outlaws, drawing comparisons between their lifestyles and the lifestyles of modern rock stars, and introduced the group’s penchant for conceptual songwriting. It was during the recording sessions that Don Henley and Glenn Frey began writing with each other, co-writing eight of the album’s eleven songs. Included are two of the Eagles’ most popular songs: “Tequila Sunrise” and “Desperado” were both written by Henley and Frey. The bluegrass songs “Twenty-One,” “Doolin’ Dalton” and the ballad “Saturday Night” showcased guitarist Bernie Leadon’s abilities on the banjo, fingerpicked guitar and mandolin. Throughout the album, the story of the notorious Wild West “Doolin-Dalton” gang was the main focus, featuring in the songs “Doolin-Dalton,” “Bittercreek” and “Desperado.” The album was less successful than the first, reaching only number 41 on the U.S. pop album charts, and yielding only two singles, “Tequila Sunrise,” which reached No. 61 on the Billboard charts, and “Outlaw Man,” which peaked at No. 59.

The album marked a significant change to the band, with Henley and Frey co-writing the bulk of the album, a pattern that would continue for years to come. As a result, the pair began to dominate the band in terms of leadership and songwriting, turning the focus of the band away from Leadon and Meisner. Ironically, many had thought that it would be Leadon and Meisner who would be leading the band.

On the Border
For their next album, On the Border, Henley and Frey wanted the band to break away from the country music style they were known for, moving more towards hard rock. Initially, the Eagles started off with Glyn Johns producing, but he tended to emphasize the lush side of their double-edged music. After completing only two songs, the band turned to Bill Szymczyk to produce the rest of the album. Szymczyk brought in Don Felder to add slide guitar to a song called “Good Day in Hell,” and the band was so impressed that two days later they invited Felder to become the fifth Eagle. He appeared on only one other song on the album, the uptempo breakup song “Already Gone,” where he performed the guitar duet with Glenn Frey. On the Border yielded a No. 1 Billboard single with “Best of My Love,” which hit the top of the charts on March 1, 1975, becoming the Eagles’ first of five chart toppers.

One of These Nights (Leadon leaves)
Their next album, One of These Nights, had an aggressive, sinewy rock stance. The album further displayed the growing strength of the Henley/Frey songwriting team, particularly on the album’s title track and the Grammy Award winning “Lyin’ Eyes.” “One of These Nights” hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart on August 2, 1975. The song itself has often been cited by Frey as his all-time favorite Eagles tune. The album also contains the futuristic sounding instrumental “Journey of the Sorcerer,” which is known to many as the theme to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

By this time, members of the band had started to fight with each other. Recording and touring had been strained since the eponymous debut album; tempers were boiling over, and egos were clashing. Between the release of One of These Nights and the subsequent tour, Bernie Leadon left the group, disillusioned with the direction the band’s music was taking. They were no longer concentrating on the country rock in which Leadon excelled and the hiring of Don Felder meant that Leadon’s role had been significantly diminished. Leadon was also dating Patti Davis, Ronald Reagan’s daughter, at the time – the two of them had co-written “I Wish You Peace” on the album – which created political tensions within the group. Leadon left the band in December 1975, famously announcing his resignation by pouring a beer over Frey’s head. In order to continue with their tour schedule, the group quickly replaced Leadon with Joe Walsh, a veteran of such groups as the James Gang and Barnstorm and a solo artist in his own right, who (like the Eagles) was produced by Szymczyk and managed by Irving Azoff.

Meanwhile, in early 1976, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) was released. It went on to become the best-selling album in U.S. history, selling over 29 million copies in the United States to date.

Hotel California (Meisner leaves)

Band photo on inner sleeve of Hotel California albumThe group’s next album, Hotel California, came out in late 1976. “New Kid in Town” was a No. 1 hit in Billboard on February 26, 1977, and “Hotel California” on May 7, 1977. Told during a 60 Minutes interview (November 25, 2007) that “everyone wants to know what this song [Hotel California] means,” Don Henley replied, “I know, it’s so boring… It’s a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America, which was something we knew about.” “Life in the Fast Lane” was also a major success, becoming a catchphrase in the process and established Joe Walsh’s position in the band with its more hard rock sound. The ballad “Wasted Time” closed the first side of the album, while an instrumental reprise of it opened the second side. The album concluded with “The Last Resort,” the song Frey, to this day, refers to as Don Henley’s greatest work. The run out groove on side two has the words “V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live”, this means that the song “Victim of Love” was recorded live, with just the band and no overdubbing. Don Henley confirms this on the inner booklet of The Very Best of the Eagles. Hotel California has appeared on several lists of the best albums of all time. It is also their best-selling studio album, with over 16 million copies sold to date in the United States.

Glenn Frey, Don Felder and Joe Walsh during Hotel California tourAfter the tour, Randy Meisner left the band and moved to Nebraska, where he began a solo career. The band replaced Meisner with the man who had succeeded him in Poco, Timothy B. Schmit. In 1977, the group, minus Don Felder, performed some instrumental work and backing vocals for Randy Newman’s album Little Criminals.

The Long Run (break-up)
In 1977, the Eagles went into a recording studio to produce their next studio album, The Long Run. The album took two years to make, but yielded the group’s fifth and last No. 1 single in Billboard, “Heartache Tonight” (November 10, 1979).

On July 31, 1980, in Long Beach, California, tempers boiled over into what has been described as “Long Night at Wrong Beach.” Frey and Felder spent the entire show describing to each other the beating each planned to administer backstage. “Only three more songs until I kick your butt, pal,” Frey recalls Felder telling him near the end of the band’s set. Felder recalls Frey making a similar threat to him just as they began to sing “The Best Of My Love.”

It appeared to be the end of the Eagles, although the band still owed Warner Bros. a live record from the tour. Eagles Live (released in November 1980) was mixed by Frey and Henley on opposite coasts; the two decided they couldn’t bear to be in the same state, let alone the same studio, and as Bill Szymczyk put it,” the record’s perfect three-part harmonies were fixed courtesy of Federal Express.” With credits that listed no fewer than five attorneys, the album’s liner notes simply said, “Thank you and goodnight.”

After the Eagles
After the breakup of the Eagles, each ex-member tried his hand in a solo career. Joe Walsh had already established himself as a solo artist in the 1970s before and during his time with the Eagles, but it was uncharted waters for the others.

Walsh tried continuing his solo career, which included the hits, 1973’s “Rocky Mountain Way” and 1978’s “Life’s Been Good”, but found hits hard to come by after the breakup. 1981’s album, There Goes the Neighborhood was considerably successful, but successive albums throughout the 1980s, such as Got Any Gum? proved to be mediocre. During this time he also performed as a session musician for Dan Fogelberg, Steve Winwood and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, among others, and produced and co-wrote Ringo Starr’s “Old Wave” album.

Don Henley turned out to have the greatest solo success of the five during this period. In 1982, he released the well-received I Can’t Stand Still, featuring the hit “Dirty Laundry.” The first album paled in comparison, though, to his next release, 1984’s smash, Building the Perfect Beast. Off of this album came the Billboard No. 5 hit and classic rock radio staple, “Boys of Summer.” It also yielded the No. 9 hit “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”, “Not Enough Love In The World” (#34) and “Sunset Grill” (#22). He would not release another album for five years until 1989’s The End of the Innocence. This album was also a major success and included the hits “The End of the Innocence,” “The Last Worthless Evening” and “The Heart of the Matter”. His solo career was cut short however because of a contract dispute with his record company which was not resolved until the Eagles reunited in 1994.

Glenn Frey also found solo success in the 1980s. In 1982, he released his first album, No Fun Aloud, which spawned the No. 15 hit, “The One You Love.” He followed this album with 1984’s The Allnighter, which featured the No. 20 hit “Sexy Girl.” He reached No. 2 on the charts with “The Heat Is On” from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. He had another No. 2 single in 1985 with “You Belong to the City” from the Miami Vice soundtrack, which featured another Frey song, “Smuggler’s Blues.” He also contributed the songs “Flip City” to the Ghostbusters II soundtrack and “Part of Me, Part of You” to the soundtrack for Thelma and Louise.

In 1982, former music writer turned filmmaker, Cameron Crowe, saw his first screenplay turn into a feature length movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Crowe was a fan and had written about the Eagles in one of his articles, and as a result, Henley, Walsh, Schmit, and Felder all contributed solo songs to the film’s soundtrack. In addition, the band playing the dance toward the end of the movie covers Life in the Fast Lane.

Don Felder also released a solo album, and contributed 2 songs to the soundtrack of the movie “Heavy Metal.”

Timothy B. Schmit had a top-40 hit in 1987 with “Boys’ Night Out”.

Reunion

Did Hell Freezes Over?
Fourteen years after the breakup, an Eagles country tribute album titled Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was released in 1993. Travis Tritt insisted on having the Long Run-era Eagles in his video for “Take It Easy” and they agreed. After the “Take It Easy” video was completed the following year, and following years of public speculation, the band finally formally reunited. The lineup comprised the five Long Run-era members – Frey, Henley, Walsh, Felder and Schmit – supplemented by additional musicians on stage. “For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14-year vacation,” announced Frey at their first live performance in April 1994. The ensuing tour spawned a live album titled Hell Freezes Over (named for Henley’s recurring statement that the group would get back together “when hell freezes over”) which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, and included four new studio songs, with “Get Over It” and “Love Will Keep Us Alive” both becoming top forty hits. The album itself proved as successful as the reunion tour, selling 6 million copies in the United States alone. While the tour was briefly interrupted in late 1994 due to Frey’s serious recurrence of diverticulitis, it resumed in 1995 and continued into 1996.

In 1998, the Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the induction ceremony, Frey, Henley, Felder, Walsh and Schmit performed together, and former members Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner rejoined the band for the performance, where the band played “Take It Easy” and “Hotel California.” Several subsequent reunion tours followed (without Leadon or Meisner), notable for their record-setting ticket prices.

The new Century
The Eagles performed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on December 31, 1999. This concert marked the last time Don Felder played with the band and these shows (including a planned release of the video) would form a part of the lawsuit that Felder later filed against his former band mates.

The concert was released on CD as part of the four-disc Selected Works: 1972-1999 box set in November 2000. Along with the millennium concert, this set included the band’s hit singles, album tracks, as well as outtakes from The Long Run sessions. Selected Works sold approximately 267,000 copies at about $60 a unit.

Don Felder sues the Eagles
On February 6, 2001, Don Felder was fired from the Eagles. Felder responded by filing two lawsuits against “Eagles, Ltd., a California corporation; Don Henley, an individual; Glenn Frey, an individual; and Does 1-50″, alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract, and breach of fiduciary duty, reportedly seeking $50,000,000 in damages.

In his latter complaint, Felder alleged that from the 1994 Hell Freezes Over tour onward, Henley and Frey had “…insisted that they each receive a higher percentage of the band’s profits…”, whereas the money had previously been split in five equal portions. Felder also accused them of coercing him into signing an agreement under which Henley and Frey would receive three times as much of the Selected Works: 1972-1999 proceeds than Felder.

On behalf of his clients Henley and Frey, attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli stated:

”
[Henley and Frey] felt, creatively — chemistry-wise and performance-wise — that he should no longer be part of the band…. They removed him, and they had every legal right to do so. This has been happening with rock ‘n’ roll bands since day one.”
It was also reported that Don Felder usually did not agree with the rest of the band as far as touring or recording schedules. The rest of the band members wanted the freedom to tour or record as they wanted on their own terms.

Henley and Frey then counter-sued Felder for breach of contract, alleging that Felder had written and attempted to sell the rights to a “tell-all” book. The book, Heaven and Hell, was published in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2007, but the American release was canceled after publisher Hyperion caused it to back out in September after an entire print run of the book had to be recalled for further cuts and changes.

On January 23, 2002, the Los Angeles County Court consolidated the two complaints. The case was dismissed on May 8, 2007 after being settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

“Hole in the World”
In 2003, the Eagles released a new greatest hits album The Very Best of the Eagles. The two-disc compilation was the first that encompassed their entire career, from Eagles to The Long Run. The album also included a new single, the September 11-themed Hole in the World. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts and eventually gained triple platinum status.

Also in 2003, Warren Zevon, a friend of the Eagles, began work on his final album, The Wind, with the assistance of Henley, Walsh, and Schmit.

On June 14, 2005, the Eagles released a new two-DVD set titled Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne featuring two new songs: Glenn Frey’s “No More Cloudy Days” and Joe Walsh’s “One Day at a Time.” A special edition 2006 release exclusive to Wal-Mart and affiliated stores also included a bonus audio CD with three new songs: a studio version of “No More Cloudy Days” plus “Fast Company” and “Do Something.”

Long Road Out of Eden
In 2007, the Eagles consisted of Frey, Henley, Walsh, and Schmit. On August 20, 2007, “How Long,” written by J.D. Souther – who had previously worked with the Eagles co-writing some of their biggest hits including “Best of My Love,” “Victim of Love,” “Heartache Tonight” and “New Kid in Town” – was released as a single to radio with an accompanying online video at Yahoo! Music and debuted on television on CMT during the Top 20 Countdown on August 23, 2007. The band performed the song as part of their live sets in the early to mid 1970s, but did not record it at the time due to J.D. Souther’s desire to use it on his first solo album.

On October 30, 2007, the Eagles released Long Road Out of Eden, their first album of new material since 1979. For the first year after the album’s initial release, it will be available in the United States exclusively via the band’s website, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores, and commercially available through traditional retail outlets in other countries. The album debuted at No. 1 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and Norway. It subsequently became their third studio album, seventh release overall, to be certified at least seven times platinum.

In an interview with CNN, Don Henley declared, “This is probably the last Eagles album that we’ll ever make.”

The Eagles made their awards show debut on November 7, 2007, when they performed “How Long” live at the Country Music Association Awards.

On 10 February 2008 The Eagles won a Grammy Award for “How Long” (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals). It was the band’s fifth Grammy Award.

On March 20, 2008, the Eagles will launch their world tour in support of Long Road Out of Eden at The O2 Arena in London, England.

Band members
1971–1974 Glenn Frey – guitar, vocals, piano, slide guitar, harmonica
Bernie Leadon – guitar, vocals, banjo, mandolin
Randy Meisner – bass, vocals, guitar
Don Henley – drums, vocals, guitar

1974–1975 Glenn Frey – guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano
Don Felder – guitar, vocals, talk box
Bernie Leadon – guitar, vocals, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel guitar
Randy Meisner – bass, vocals
Don Henley – drums, vocals, guitar

1976–1977 Glenn Frey – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Don Felder – guitar, vocals
Joe Walsh – guitar, vocals, keyboards, talk box
Randy Meisner – bass, vocals
Don Henley – drums, vocals

1977–1980 Glenn Frey – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Don Felder – guitar, vocals, organ
Joe Walsh – guitar, vocals, keyboards, talk box
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, vocals
Don Henley – drums, vocals, guitar

1980–1994 Eagles disbanded

1994–2001 Glenn Frey – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Don Felder – guitar, vocals
Joe Walsh – guitar, vocals, keyboards, talk box
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, vocals
Don Henley – drums, vocals, guitar

2001–present Glenn Frey – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Don Henley – drums, vocals
Joe Walsh – guitar, vocals, keyboards, talk box
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, vocals

Awards
Eagles have won five Grammy awards:
(1975) Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus: “Lyin’ Eyes”
(1977) Record of the Year: “Hotel California” (single)
(1977) Best Arrangement for Voices: “New Kid in Town”
(1979) Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group: “Heartache Tonight”
(2008) Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: “”How Long”
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
On December 7, 1999 the Recording Industry of America honored the group with the Best Selling Album of the Century for Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975).
Eagles were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
The group ranked number 34 on CMT’s 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003. They were one of four artists who were either a duet or a vocal group on the list with the others being Alabama at number eleven, Flatt & Scruggs at number 24, and Brooks & Dunn at number 25.

Discography
Main article: Eagles discography

Notes
^ (2004-04-15) “The Immortals: The First Fifty”. Rolling Stone (946). Wenner Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.?
^ a b RIAA Top 100 Albums. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ “Eagles hits album named best-selling of century”, CNN.com, 1999-12-08. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ a b “374) The Eagles”, The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, RollingStone.com, 2003-11-18. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ Hilburn, Robert. “The Eagles – A Long Run Is Over”, Los Angeles Times, 1982-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ “A Peaceful Easy Feeling”, Detroit Free Press, 2003-10-14.
^ How The Eagles took it to the limits The Times, October 12, 2007
^ Various news articles, summarised at The Great Gastro-Intestinal Saga of Glenn Frey (1994-95). Eagles Online Central. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ a b Leeds, Jeff. “Reborn Eagles Lose Peaceful, Easy Feeling”, Los Angeles Times, 2002-12-08, pp. C-1.
^ Attwood, Brett. “Eagles Sued by Don Felder Over Dismissal”, Yahoo! Music, 2001-02-12. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ Hell may have frozen over, but the Eagles are still feuding The Times, October 28, 2007
^ The Eagles package new music with Australian DVD. TheROCKradio.com (2006-12-01). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ Revised Chart Policy Lands Eagles At No. 1 Billboard, November 6, 2007
^ Don Henley: ‘Let the chips fall where they may’ CNN, November 18, 2007
Excerpt from Wikipedia

1975 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Have You Never Been Mellow,” Olivia Newton-John. The song is also a country hit for the singer, reaching No. 3 on Chart Toppers’s country singles chart.

1970 – Having been in release for only 15 weeks, Led Zeppelin II approaches sales of 2 million.

Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in October 1969 on Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at several locations in the United Kingdom and North America from January to August 1969. Production was entirely credited to lead guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page, while it also served as Led Zeppelin’s first album to utilise the recording techniques of engineer Eddie Kramer. Led Zeppelin II furthered the lyrical themes established on their debut album, creating a work that became more widely acclaimed and influential than its predecessor. With elements of blues and folk music, it also exhibits the band’s evolving musical style of blues-derived material and their guitar and riff-based sound. It was one of the band’s heaviest albums.^[1]

Upon release, Led Zeppelin II earned a considerable amount of sales and was Led Zeppelin’s first album to reach number one in the United Kingdom and United States. In 1970, art director David Juniper was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for Led Zeppelin II. On 15 November 1999, it was certified 12x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of 12 million copies. Following its initial reception, it has been recognized by writers and music critics as one of the greatest and most influential rock albums recorded. Led Zeppelin II has also been cited by critics as a blueprint for heavy metal bands that followed it.

Track listing