Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey (born
November 6,
1948 in
Detroit,
Michigan) is an
American musician,
singer,
songwriter, and
actor, best known as one of the founding members of
rock and roll band, The
Eagles.
Growing up in
Royal Oak, Michigan, Frey became part of the mid-
1960s Detroit rock scene.His first professional recording experience was performing
acoustic guitar and background vocals on
Bob Seger's
Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in
1968. Frey and Seger would remain friends and occasional songwriting partners in later years. Frey then moved to
Los Angeles. His first recording as an artist was while fronting
Longbranch Pennywhistle, a duo with
J.D. Souther, in
1969. Frey also met
Jackson Browne there, with whom he would also sometimes write songs.
After a stint in
1971 backing
Linda Ronstadt, Frey helped form Eagles, playing
guitar and
keyboards. Frey wrote or co-wrote (often with
Don Henley) many of the group's songs, and sang lead vocal on a number of Eagles hits such as "Take It Easy," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Tequila Sunrise," "Lyin' Eyes," "New Kid in Town," and "Heartache Tonight".
After the Eagles disbanded, Frey found solo success in the
1980s, especially with the
soundtrack songs "The Heat Is On" (from
Beverly Hills Cop) and the #2 hit "
You Belong to the City" (from
Miami Vice, the
soundtrack to which stayed on top of the U.S. album charts for 11 weeks in
1985). Frey also contributed the song "Flip City" to the
Ghostbusters 2 soundtrack.
Since
1994, he has participated in various Eagles reunion projects.
In the late 1990s, Frey founded a record company with attorney Peter Lopez called
Mission Records.
As an actor on television, Frey guest-starred on
Miami Vice (in an episode inspired by his hit song "Smuggler's Blues"), had a recurring role on
Wiseguy, and had a starring role on the short-lived
South of Sunset (which was canceled after one episode). In the late '90s, he guest-starred on
Nash Bridges, and in 2002 he appeared on
HBO's
Arli$$.
Cameron Crowe, who toured with The Eagles when he was a teenager, has stated that the character of Russell, the lead guitar player from his film
Almost Famous, was based primarily upon Glenn Frey. The instruction Russell gives to Crowe's autobiographical young critic William Miller, to "Just make us look cool," was a direct quote from Frey.
In the television show
Corner Gas, in the episode "Hook, Line and Sinker", the characters are putting up a sign outside the gas station. Brent says he was careful in choosing letters that could not be rearranged to spell something crazy. Wanda asks what it is. Brent says "Come for the oil change, stay for the grease." and soon after, Wanda says "Choose Glenn Frey for a menage à trois."
Albums
* 1982
No Fun Aloud #32 US
* 1984
The Allnighter #22 US, #31 UK
* 1988
Soul Searchin' #36 US
* 1992
Strange Weather* 1993
Glenn Frey Live* 1995
Solo Collection (compilation)
* 2000
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Glenn Frey (compilation)
Singles
* from
No Fun Aloud:
** "I Found Somebody" (1982) #31 US
** "The One You Love" (1982) #15 US
** "All Those Lies" (1982) #41 US
* from
The Allnighter:
** "Sexy Girl" (1984) #20 US
** "The All Nighter" (1984) #51 US
* from
Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack:
** "The Heat Is On" (1985) #2 US, #12 UK
* from
Miami Vice soundtrack:
** "Smuggler's Blues" (1985) #12 US, #22 UK
** "
You Belong to the City" (1985) #2 US
* from
Soul Searchin:
** "True Love" (1988) #13 US
** "Livin' Right" (1988) #90 US
* from
Strange Weather:
** "Part of Me, Part of You" (1991) #55 US
** "I've Got Mine" (1992) #90 US
*
Eagles website*
Glenn Frey Online*
Eagles fansite Fastlane
