Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is a founding member of the Eagles, serving as a songwriter, drummer, and vocalist for the band. Henley sang lead vocals on Eagles songs such as "Witchy Woman", "Desperado", "Best of My Love", "One of These Nights", "Hotel California", "Life in the Fast Lane", and "The Long Run". The Eagles disbanded in 1980, but reunited in 1994. Following the death of co-founder Glenn Frey in 2016, Henley became the Eagles' only remaining consistent founding member.
After the Eagles' 1980 breakup, Henley pursued a solo career and released his debut studio album I Can't Stand Still in 1982. As a solo artist, he has released five studio albums, two compilation albums, and one live DVD. Henley's notable solo tracks include "Dirty Laundry", "The Boys of Summer", "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", "Not Enough Love in the World", "Sunset Grill", "New York Minute", "The End of the Innocence", "The Last Worthless Evening", "The Heart of the Matter", and "Taking You Home".
The Eagles have sold over 150 million albums worldwide; won six Grammy Awards; and charted five number one singles, 17 top 40 singles, and six number one albums. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and is the highest-selling American band in history. As a solo artist, Henley has sold over 10 million albums worldwide, had eight top 40 singles, and won two Grammy Awards and five MTV Video Music Awards. In 2008, he was ranked as the 87th-greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone.
Henley has also played a founding role in several environmental and political causes, including the Walden Woods Project.
Donald Hugh Henley was born on July 22, 1947 in Gilmer, Texas, and grew up in the small northeast Texas town of Linden. He is the son of Hughlene (née McWhorter; 1916–2003) and Con Junell "C. J." Henley (1907–1972), and has English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. Henley attended Linden-Kildare High School, where he initially played football; due to his relatively small build, Henley's coach suggested that he quit, and he joined the high school band instead. Henley first played the trombone, then moved to the percussion section.
After graduating from high school in 1965, Henley attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, then North Texas State University in Denton from 1967 to 1969. He left school to spend time with his father, who was dying of cardiovascular and arterial disease.
While still at high school, Henley was asked to join a Dixieland jazz band formed by his childhood friend Richard Bowden's father Elmer, together with another school friend Jerry Surratt. They then formed a band called the Four Speeds. In 1964 the band was renamed Felicity and went through a number of changes in band personnel. As Felicity they were signed to a local producer and released a Henley-penned song called "Hurtin'". In 1969, they met by chance fellow Texan Kenny Rogers who took an interest in their band. They changed their name to Shiloh and recorded a few songs for Rogers, and "Jennifer (O' My Lady)" was released as their first single.
Surratt died in a dirt bike accident just before their single was released. The band members then became Henley, Richard Bowden and his cousin Michael Bowden, Al Perkins and Jim Ed Norman. Rogers helped sign the band to independent label Amos Records, and brought the band to Los Angeles, California, in June 1970. They recorded an eponymous studio album produced by Rogers at Larrabee Sound Studios while living at the home of Rogers for a few months. Shiloh broke-up in 1971 over the band's leadership and creative differences between Henley and Bowden.
In Los Angeles, Henley met Glenn Frey as they were both signed to the same label (Frey was signed to Amos Records, together with JD Souther, as the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle), and they were recruited by John Boylan to be members of Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her tour in 1971. Touring with her was the catalyst for forming a group, as Henley and Frey decided to form their own band. They were joined by Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon who also played in Ronstadt's backing band (the four had, however, played together only once previously, as the band personnel changed) and became the Eagles.
The Eagles were formed in 1971. Henley is a founding member, drummer, and vocalist of the band. The band signed a recording contract with David Geffen's label Asylum Records. They released their debut eponymous studio album in 1972, which contained the hit song "Take It Easy", co-written by Jackson Browne. During the band's run, Henley co-wrote (usually with Frey) most of the band's best-known songs. "Witchy Woman", which was co-written with Leadon, was his first commercially successful song, while "Desperado" marks the beginning of his songwriting partnership with Frey.
Henley sang lead vocals on many of the band's popular songs, including "Desperado", "Witchy Woman", "Best of My Love", "One of These Nights", "Hotel California", "The Long Run" and "Life in the Fast Lane". The Eagles won numerous Grammy Awards during the 1970s and became one of the most successful rock bands of all time. They are also among the top five overall bestselling bands of all time in America, and the highest-selling American band in U.S. history.
The band broke up in 1980, following a difficult tour and personal tensions that arose during the recording of their sixth studio album, The Long Run (1979). They reunited 14 years later in 1994. Their most recent studio album, Long Road Out of Eden, was released in 2007. The band had a number of highly successful tours, such as the Hell Freezes Over Tour (1994–1996) and Long Road Out of Eden Tour. On April 1, 2013, during a concert at the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada, Henley announced the History of the Eagles – Live in Concert tour, which began in July 2013 and ended in July 2015, six months before Frey's death. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, the Eagles and Jackson Browne performed "Take It Easy" as a tribute to Frey.
Frey's death left Henley as the only founding member of Eagles who was still in the band.
On his songwriting in the band, Henley stated in a March 2001 interview on Charlie Rose that "rock bands work best as a benevolent dictatorship", with the principal songwriters in a band (in the case of Eagles, "me and Glenn Frey") being the ones that will likely hold the power.
Following the initial break-up of the Eagles, Henley embarked on a solo career. He and Stevie Nicks (his girlfriend at the time) had duetted on her top 10 pop and adult contemporary hit "Leather and Lace" in 1981, written by Nicks for Waylon Jennings and his wife Jessi Colter, in late 1980. Henley's debut solo studio album, I Can't Stand Still (1982), was a moderate seller. The single "Dirty Laundry" reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of 1983 and earned a Gold-certified single for sales of over a million copies in the U.S. It was Henley's all-time biggest solo hit single, and also was nominated for a Grammy Award. Henley also contributed the song "Love Rules" to the coming-of-age comedy film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
This was followed in 1984 by the studio album, Building the Perfect Beast. A single release, "The Boys of Summer", reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the song was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and won several MTV Video Music Awards including Best Video of the Year. Henley also won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. Several other songs on the album, "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" (No. 9 on Hot 100), "Not Enough Love in the World" (No. 34) and "Sunset Grill" (No. 22) also received considerable airplay. He then had a No. 3 Album Rock Tracks chart hit with "Who Owns This Place?" from the sports drama film The Color of Money (1986).
Henley's third studio album, The End of the Innocence (1989), was even more successful. The album's title track, a collaboration with Bruce Hornsby, reached No. 8 as a single. "The Heart of the Matter", "The Last Worthless Evening" and "New York Minute" were among other songs that gained radio airplay. Henley again won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1990 for "The End of the Innocence". Also in 1990, Henley made a brief appearance on MTV's Unplugged series.