The Eagles

Eagles (often referred to as "The Eagles") is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California during the early 1970s. The group chose the name Eagles as a nod to The Byrds (as founding member Bernie 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). Comedian Steve Martin records in his autobiography, Born Standing Up, that Frey was very particular that the name was Eagles and not The Eagles. The band played initially as Linda Ronstadt’s backing group.

With five #1 singles and six #1 albums, Eagles was one of 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 20 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 magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and the band was ranked #75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They also have the best selling album in the U.S. to date with Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975.

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. In 2007, Eagles released Long Road out of Eden, their first full studio album in 28 years. The next year they launched The Long Road out of Eden Tour in support of their album. The tour continued on into 2009, crossing North America and Europe, with its last date on July 22, 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal.