This week the music world lost two great icons — David Bowie and Glenn Frey. Perhaps to most readers, the name David Bowie is more recognizable. However, the latter is known to many older fans as one of the founding members of the Eagles. While many people on social media have paid tribute to Bowie’s legacy, I would like to take the time to reflect on Frey and the Eagles’ influence on the world of music as well as my early memories of music.
Bowie was a very versatile artist and his music spanned across many genres, each with an accompanying persona to match. He is remembered by his fans for always adding a theatrical touch to his work, both in his stage presence and his vocals. He passed away after an 18-month battle with cancer. Just before his death, Bowie released an album, Blackstar, that further confirms his love for and his dedication to the evolution of music. However, his legacy lives on in the lives of the artists he influenced, such as Ozzy Osbourne, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and Joan Jett.
Megan Howell
Glenn Frey of the Eagles has a different life story to tell. Frey dated musician Linda Ronsdadt in the mid-sixties. In need of a backup band, Ronsdat asked Frey and three others to work together. They worked so well together that they decided to become a band and call themselves the Eagles. Frey would help to write some of their most immensely popular songs, such as “One of These Nights” and “Take it to the Limit” and even lending his vocals on the song “Lyin Eyes.” The Eagles’ biggest hit of all time is arguably “Hotel California,” written in 1976 that would go on to win a Grammy and become a cornerstone of the classic rock genre for years to come. In 1998 the Eagles were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with other famous musicians such as The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and Michael Jackson. However, Frey would be plagued by health issues for the next ten years that would force him to take frequent breaks from performing or recording. He passed away on Jan 18 from complications from rheumatoid arthritis and acute ulcerative colitis as well as pneumonia.
Most people my age probably do not listen to the Eagles, or only recognize the iconic song “Hotel California.” Additionally, it is clear from the social media attention that Bowie’s death received that he is the more well known of the two. However, this doesn’t take away Frey’s brilliance, and for me his death also brought back some old memories from my childhood. When I was in middle school my dad took up playing the guitar after not having played for 30 years, and it quickly became his passion. I played with him for a number of years, but while I wanted to learn Taylor Swift songs on the guitar, he was busy mastering the Beatles and U2. It became commonplace in our house to have him playing guitar as we went about our day. When my dad joined a local band, his “hobby” took on a newfound degree of seriousness. He would practice the same guitar solo for hours until every chord was perfect. He was his worst critic. More than once in high school did he wake me up at 8 o’clock in the morning on a weekend practicing a power ballad on the guitar. While he never actually did quit his day job and pursue guitar full time, he does spend every possible moment playing. When his band was practicing to play an all Eagles’ songs show, I thought I would lose my mind if he played “Lyin’ Eyes” one more time early on a Saturday morning.
My dad’s constant guitar playing taught me what it really means to be dedicated to something. Never before have I seen someone so devoted to an activity that shows results only over long stretches of time. It can takes months to master a song, and years to learn how to play certain chord combinations correctly. Despite this my dad has been resilient in his insistence to learn. Now, when I hear an Eagles’ song I almost immediately think of my dad. Their songs were some of the first complex songs he learned to play, which means he practiced them incessantly. The whole family would sing along to “Take it Easy” and “Hotel California” at birthdays, holidays, and regular Sunday afternoons. When I hear their music, I remember dad and I playing guitar, going to his shows with my family, and singing along together in the car (my personal favorite). So, while most people reflect on their associations with Bowie’s music, I am more inclined to be nostalgic about Frey’s. I will always be grateful to Frey and the happy, funny, and fond memories that his music brought my dad and me.
