Solo Eagles songs have usually had an intriguing means of sounding nothing like an Eagles music.

Whether it was Glenn Frey’s penchant for a wailing sax or Don Henley’s shocking flirtations with synthesizers, these tracks may find yourself a world away from the principle band’s acoustic-picking country-rock roots. Our record of Top 20 Eagles solo songs kinds by the perfect of those usually distinctly un-Eagles-sounding moments.

Some of their solo musical dalliances aged higher than others, notably for anybody who most popular their Eagles duded up in Old West outfits. But in addition they provided followers a brand new technique to strategy these acquainted voices, whereas attracting new legions of followers who won’t have thought of an prolonged keep amid the darkish paneling and ’70s shag of the Hotel California.

READ MORE: Ranking Every Eagles Album

The following countdown of Top 20 Eagles solo songs additionally highlights these rare occasions when the previous members of the group returned to extra acquainted settings. Sometimes, however solely on the rarest of events, they seemed like their outdated selves once more – and that tended to properly steadiness their period-specific experimentalism.

No. 20. “The Heat Is On”
Glenn Frey, Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack (1984)

Frey started separating himself from his country-rock previous with 1982’s Top 20 hit “The One You Love,” that includes a moderately unlikely sax. So why not attempt once more? But the horn half in “The Heat Is On” wasn’t really his doing. Frey was approached with a largely accomplished demo for use in 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop. All he did was add vocals and guitar to this No. 2 hit. Frey was handed a $15,000 examine, then stood by as “The Heat Is On” turned the highest-charting solo Eagles single.

 
No. 19. “Don’t Give Up”
Timothy B. Schmit, Timothy B (1987)

Timothy B. Schmit tended to get misplaced amid the all-star forged of his 1984 solo debut, which featured members of Toto, the Beach Boys and and his important band. So he stripped all the pieces all the way down to a baseline of keyboards and programming. Unfortunately, this ended up overwhelming Schmit’s reliably candy romanticism, too. “Don’t Give Up” was a Top 30 hit on the adult-contemporary charts within the late ’80s – and it seems like each phrase in that phrase.

 
No. 18. “All Night Long”
Joe Walsh, Urban Cowboy Soundtrack (1980)

The New Jersey-reared Joe Walsh’s look on the boot-scootin’ Urban Cowboy soundtrack made as a lot sense because the New Jersey-born John Travolta enjoying the lead function. That did not hold file consumers away. “All Night Long” peaked at No. 19 a month after the movie premiered in the summertime of 1980, turning into the third of Walsh’s 4 Top 40 solo singles. Eagles promptly positioned the anthemic music on their set lists, becoming a member of an extended line of pilfered Walsh solo tracks that included “Rocky Mountain Way” and “In the City.”

 
No. 17. “Not Enough Love in the World”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

The Henley of the ’80s generally had no bother recalling the Henley from the ’70s. “Not Enough Love in the World,” with a beseeching vocal that may’t fairly disguise his delicate digs, is an ideal instance. Take away the Henley’s pleated pants within the accompanying video, and this might have been the a lot stronger (a lot, a lot stronger) music that 1979’s The Long Run wanted as a substitute of “The Disco Strangler” or “Teenage Jail.”

 
No. 16. “Sunset Grill”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

Henley locations his sometimes aimless and discontent characters right into a distinctly fashionable context, however finds much more success than Timothy B. Schmit’s modern experiments with synths. Credit a moderately shocking programming help from Randy Newman, who helped create a swirling orchestral really feel, and the in a position enjoying of an enormous forged of keyboardists that included co-arrangers Michael Boddicker and Benmont Tench. It’s an assumed factor now, however guitarist Danny Kortchmar’s subsequent synthesizer solo was as soon as some of the shocking issues that is ever occurred on an Eagles file.

 
No. 15. “You Belong to the City”
Glenn Frey, Miami Vice Soundtrack (1985)

Unlike Frey’s most up-to-date soundtrack smash, he was deeply concerned with the creation of this music. Frey co-wrote, sang and performed all of the devices on “You Belong to the City” throughout late-1984 classes held at New York City’s Fool on the Hill Studios, apart from drums (dealt with by long-time Frey sideman Michael Huey) and – sure – saxophone (studio musician Bill Bergman). Written particularly for the TV present Miami Vice, “You Belong to the City” would once more take Frey to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

 
No. 14. “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

Principal Henley collaborator Danny Kortchmar was a guitarist by commerce. But “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” really grew out of Kortchmar’s early makes an attempt at mastering one of many first Yamaha DX7s, a synthesizer that might dominate the subsequent few years in pop music. His ensuing groove served as a cool counterweight to a few of Henley’s most biting political criticisms, this time over the U.S. involvement in Central America’s ’80s-era Contra War.

 
No. 13. “Hearts on Fire”
Randy Meisner, One More Song (1980)

Meisner left the lineup after fighting the stress to construct on the successes of 1975’s “Take It to the Limit,” a No. 4 Eagles smash that he co-wrote and sang. He ended up largely disappearing from the music scene, however not earlier than scoring yet another Top 20 hit. “Hearts on Fire” ratified Meisner’s often-overlooked contributions to his former band whereas offering a uncommon ’80s-era name again to the early Eagles’ groundbreaking country-rock sound.

 
No. 12. “Smuggler’s Blues”
Glenn Frey, The Allnighter (1985)

“You Belong to the City” wasn’t Glenn Frey’s first intersection with the breakout ’80s tv collection Miami Vice. Thanks go to the accompanying video for “Smuggler’s Blues,” which fleshed out its illicit themes. Executive producer Michael Mann noticed the clip and had a complete first-season episode of Miami Vice constructed round Frey’s music, even together with some lyrics within the dialog. Frey appeared as a guitar-playing pilot within the adaptation, then wrote “You Belong to the City” for the second season’s opener.

 
No. 11. “Dirty Laundry”
Don Henley, I Can’t Stand Still (1982)

Credit Henley for taking swipes at sensationalism in information lengthy earlier than the appearance of 24-hour cable information, the web or social media. Debit Henley for by no means fairly determining how you can finish “Dirty Laundry,” a gold-selling No. 3 hit that begins with a really nasty groove earlier than devolving right into a bunch of shouting. Reports that the album’s cowl picture was an precise {photograph} of Henley mulling issues over stay unconfirmed.

 
No. 10. “Rocky Mountain Way”
Joe Walsh, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (1973)

Walsh moved round quite a bit as a child earlier than ending highschool in New Jersey, then heading to Kent State University and forming the James Gang in Cleveland. His debut solo single “Rocky Mountain Way” was sparked by a transfer to Colorado after the James Gang cut up. Walsh has stated he was out mowing his grass throughout that first summer season in Boulder County when he was caught by snow-capped mountains within the distance. He realized, “the Rocky Mountain way is better than the way I had” – and a music was born.

 
No. 9. “The Heart of the Matter”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)

Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers outlined the music itself. Henley and co-lyricist J.D. Souther had each simply cut up with their fiancees, and Henley was within the temper to speak about forgiveness. It all got here collectively on (*20*) Of course, consistent with custom, Henley as soon as once more finds a technique to specific the deepest of heartbreaks with a delicate putdown or two. But he asks some very massive questions alongside the best way. As on all his finest songs, these grace notes find yourself overshadowing the remainder.

 
No. 8. “True Love”
Glenn Frey, Soul Searchin’ (1988)

Despite being launched to the broader public by the overtly rootsy “Take It Easy,” Glenn Frey all the time had the deepest of affections for the form of soul-lifting R&B that is related together with his hometown of Detroit. “True Love,” a Top 15 hit co-written with stalwart collaborator Jack Tempchin, supplies the proper car for Frey to inhabit that musical area whereas nonetheless making his distinctive presence very a lot felt.

 
No. 7. “The Last Worthless Evening”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)

This single, co-written by John Corey and Mike Campbell’s Heartbreakers bandmate Stan Lynch, simply missed the Top 20 – however that is no reflection on its lasting emotional energy. Henley avoids the standard verbal jabs, as a substitute permitting himself to open his entire coronary heart to somebody. The outcomes are a marvel. Whether or not all of it was impressed by a withering putdown from the then-recently divorced actress Michelle Pfeiffer turns into completely irrelevant.

 
No. 6. “A Life of Illusion”
Joe Walsh, There Goes the Neighborhood (1981)

By the early ’80s, Joe Walsh was slipping into dependancy after which off the charts. So it was sensible to return to the define of a music relationship again to classes for 1973’s The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get in his pre-Eagles heyday. A bouncy Top 40 hit, “Life of Illusion” finds co-writer Kenny Passarelli enjoying each guitarron and mariachi-style trumpet – reportedly in a drunken stupor. It’s all very enjoyable, however nonetheless begs a query that is solely consistent with this music’s bigger theme: Who is aware of why?

 
No. 5. “The One You Love”
Glenn Frey, No Fun Aloud (1982)

Frey had a means of creating solo songs that sounded nothing like his outdated Eagles stuff – however “The One You Love” wasn’t considered one of them. That’s in all probability as a result of this early No. 15 hit got here collectively together with his outdated good friend Jack Tempchin, co-writer of “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Already Gone” and others. On the opposite hand, Frey additionally establishes what is going to turn out to be a cussed penchant for the sax. So “The One You Love” deftly accomplishes what each introductory solo hit ought to, with Frey’s ft firmly planted on every of his two musical worlds.

 
No. 4. “New York Minute”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)

Henley doubtless heard “New York minute” whereas rising up in northeast Texas, and it caught with him. He returned to the outdated Southern idiom – referencing how issues appear to occur at a a lot quicker tempo among the many metropolis’s hustle and bustle – when Danny Kortchmar offered him with a very autumnal set of chord modifications throughout classes for The End of the Innocence. Henley’s present for creating misplaced and looking characters, this time positioned in resonant settings like Wall Street and Central Park, did the remainder.

 
No. 3. “Life’s Been Good”
Joe Walsh, But Seriously Folks … (1978)

The winkingly debauched No. 12 hit “Life’s Been Good” follows the curious excesses and infrequently fallacious choices of a man who’s simply lovable sufficient that folks will put up together with his bullshit. Meaning this music mainly writes itself if you’re Joe Walsh within the late ’70s. Over the subsequent few years, nevertheless, life would not be all that good. Walsh fortunately lived lengthy sufficient (or extra notably, acquired sober sufficient) that these lyrical misadventures may very well be recalled with a contented sense of irony.

 
No. 2. “The End of the Innocence”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)

Having already had such success discovering lyrical inspiration within the completed musical concepts of others, Henley determined to chilly name Bruce Hornsby. This was a number of years after Hornsby rose to wider discover together with his piano-driven “The Way It Is,” and he dug out a equally constructed monitor from the discard pile earlier than Henley arrived for a go to. It labored: Hornsby stated Henley was just a few blocks away after leaving his home when he excitedly referred to as again to debate this future Top 10 hit’s new route.

 
No. 1. “Boys of Summer”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

Henley’s signature No. 5 single started as a moody programmed monitor that Mike Campbell created with a drum machine – however his boss Tom Petty did not really feel like its fashionable really feel match Southern Accents, the rootsier mission the Heartbreakers had been then engaged on. Campbell pitched the demo to Henley on the recommendation of producer Jimmy Iovine. When Henley popped it in his automobile’s cassette participant, his ideas turned to the best way growing old can affect us. Special due to the native Cadillac drive who affixed that Grateful Dead bumper sticker.

See Glenn Frey in 25 Interesting Rock Movie Facts