Don Felder was the lead guitarist of the Eagles between 1974 and 2001. He joined the Eagles in 1974 and started playing with them, co-writing songs, and arranging guitar solos.
Joe Walsh joined the Eagles after Bernie Leadon left in 1975. Felder knew Walsh and jammed with him before Leadon’s departure, so they were used to playing together. The Eagles released their major hit ‘Hotel California’ with this new line-up.
The Eagles reunited in 1994 after the ‘Long Night At Wrong Beach’ incident and their split. Felder continued as a band member until 2001. It turns out going on separate ways with Felder cost the Eagles a big amount of money.
The Real Issue Between Felder And The Eagles
The Eagles began abusing substances after the release of ‘Hotel California’ and the accompanying tour. Tensions began growing within the band. Felder and Glenn Frey started to have issues during the recordings of ‘The Long Run. It was due to Felder’s partnership with Walsh and the band’s division into factions.
Things began to escalate during a show in Long Beach, California on July 31, 1980. The animosity between Felder and Frey was already at its height before the show, and they threatened each other on stage. Felder smashed his guitar after the gig, and the Eagles disbanded.
Don Felder continued his music career as a solo artist following the Eagles’ split. Henley offered him $5,000 a week to hit the road together in 1985, but Felder refused out of his unwillingness to embark on a tour. The Eagles reunited for a concert aired on MTV in 1994, after 14 years.
The band released their 1994 album ‘Hell Freezes Over’ after the show, and Felder continued as a member until he got fired in 2001. The guitarist filed two lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract, and breach of fiduciary duty, seeking $50 million in damages.
Eagles Lost Lots Of Money After Firing Felder
Don Felder said Henley and Frey wanted a higher percentage of the band’s profits after the 1994 Hell Freezes Over tour. They split the money into five equal portions before that. Felder argued in his lawsuit that Henley and Frey’s greed became more insatiable with each new musical project.
Felder also accused his former bandmates of forming a separate company to handle a career-retrospective box set titled ‘Selected Works: 1972-1999’ and excluding him, Walsh, and Schmit from an ownership stake. Felder said the duo was abusing their authority and threatening to fire him.
He also argued the pair coerced him into signing an agreement that enabled them to receive three times more of the ‘Selected Works: 1972-1999’ profits than him. The ‘Selected Works: 1972-1999’ box set was released in November 2000 and has sold around 267,000 copies. It earned over $16 million.
Felder believed he couldn’t be left out as he was a full partner. Henley and Frey’s representative Daniel Petrocelli revealed that his clients had full rights to dismiss the guitarist. Petrocelli argued that this action was in the band’s best interest, and they felt Felder shouldn’t be part of it.
As reported by Yahoo, Daniel Petrocelli said the following:
“We took this action because it was in the best interest of the Eagles. The band is going forward. This was done in the best interest of the band.”
According to LA Times, Petrocelli also stated:
“They 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.”
Felder sued them, seeking $50 million in damages. Henley and Frey countersued him for breach of contract. The two claimed the guitarist wrote and attempted to sell the rights to a tell-all book, ‘Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles.’ The book’s release was canceled until it came out in 2007 in the UK and 2008 in the US.
The Los Angeles County Court consolidated the two complaints on January 23, 2002. The suits were settled out of court for an undisclosed amount on May 8, 2007. Don Felder now has a $60 million net worth, so it’s possible both sides agreed on a pleasant amount.
