He is a guitarist and singer-songwriter born in Wichita, Kansas whosen initial musical works were with bands in Cleveland while he attended the Kent State University.
In 1969 he became a member of the James Gang as lead guitarist and as well as appearing on their first three albums he was with them when they were the opener for The Who during a tour of Britain.
In 1971 he decided to pursue his solo career and released the albums Barnstorm and The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get which had the hit single Rocky Mountain Way.
He became a member of the Eagles in 1976, replacing Bernie Leadon and has the reputation of being the one that moved the band to a heavier rock sound than they had originally had. He co-wrote several of their songs including the hit song “Life in the Fast Lane”.
He also carried on with his solo career and in 1978 he released the album But Seriously Folks… which brought him success with “Life’s Been Good”.
The Eagles broke up in 1983 and he continued to release further albums until he re-united with them in the 1990s.
Performing and recording with several artists he has appeared with Dan Fogelberg and Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr in his All-Starr band tours as well as producing, performing and writing/co-writing 6 songs on his 1983 album Old Wave.
Wanting to make Americans aware that there was an election going on in 1980, he ran for President, giving the pledge of “free gas for all”. He was legally unable to pursue his role as a candidate though as he was under the age of 35.
The 1995 World Series saw him singing the National Anthem for Game four and he later went back to recording and touring with the Eagles.
In 2012 he and the other members of the Eagles were awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.
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