Top 10 Glenn Frey Eagles Songs

Feature Photo: Steve Alexander, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Eagles Songs Sung By Glenn Frey list celebrates one of the defining voices, songwriters, and architects of the Southern California sound. Glenn Lewis Frey was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 6, 1948. He began playing piano as a child and later moved to guitar, performing in Detroit-area bands while still in school.

During the 1960s, Frey crossed paths with Bob Seger, who became an important early mentor and friend. Frey sang backing vocals and played acoustic guitar on Seger’s “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” and their association continued for decades.

Soaring with Seger

Frey’s friendship with Bob Seger helped convince him that original songwriting had to be at the center of a lasting musical career. That advice stayed with Frey as he moved from Detroit’s local scene toward a much larger future.

Bob Seger and Glenn Frey remained close friends as both careers expanded. Seger would later become one of the co-writers of the Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight,” joining Frey, Don Henley, and J.D. Souther on one of the band’s final number-one singles of the 1970s.

Frey moved to Los Angeles in 1968, where he met J.D. Souther. The two formed Longbranch Pennywhistle and released a self-titled album in 1969. During this period, Glenn Frey also became friends with Jackson Browne. Frey lived in an apartment above Browne and later recalled how much he learned by hearing Browne work patiently on songs below him.

Flying Like Eagles

In 1971, Glenn Frey met drummer Don Henley in Los Angeles. Both musicians became part of Linda Ronstadt’s musical circle, and the future founding lineup came together with Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. By the fall of 1971, Frey, Henley, Leadon, and Meisner had formed the Eagles.

Frey played guitar and keyboards and quickly emerged, with Henley, as one of the band’s principal songwriters and lead vocalists. Leadon was a versatile guitarist, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, while Meisner anchored the group on bass and contributed his own distinctive high tenor.

Fans of the Eagles know that Frey and Henley often alternated lead vocals while also writing many of the group’s defining songs. Bernie Leadon left after One of These Nights and was replaced by Joe Walsh. Randy Meisner departed after the Hotel California era and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit in 1977.

The first chapter of the Eagles’ career ended in 1980 after years of relentless recording, touring, internal tension, and creative pressure. Frey and Henley built successful solo careers before the Eagles reunited in 1994. The reunion project Hell Freezes Over took its title from Henley’s famous answer to questions about when the Eagles might play together again. The album combined four new studio recordings with live performances recorded for an MTV special.

The breakup was not simply a matter of four musicians peacefully deciding to explore solo careers. The band had reached a point of severe exhaustion and conflict, but time eventually repaired enough of those relationships for the reunion to become one of the most successful second acts in rock history.

Glenn Frey’s Legacy

With the Eagles, Frey helped create seven studio albums. As a solo artist, he released five studio albums and scored major hits including “The Heat Is On,” “You Belong to the City,” “Smuggler’s Blues,” and “True Love.”

When Frey reunited with the Eagles, his legacy continued to expand. Glenn Frey contributed to the 2007 studio album Long Road Out of Eden and remained at the center of the band’s touring operation. In 2012, Frey, Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Joe Walsh represented the Eagles as they received honorary doctorates of music from Berklee College of Music.

Frey made his final Eagles concert appearance in Bossier City, Louisiana, on July 29, 2015, at the conclusion of the History of the Eagles tour. He died in New York City on January 18, 2016, at age sixty-seven after complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia.

The impact of Frey’s death was felt around the world. At the 2016 Grammy Awards, the surviving Eagles were joined by Jackson Browne for a tribute performance of “Take It Easy.” A life-size statue of Frey was also added to Standin’ on the Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona, the city forever linked to the Eagles’ first single.

Fans of Glenn Frey continue to hear his songs onstage through the current Eagles lineup of Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit with Vince Gill and Frey’s son Deacon Frey. In 2026, the band continued its record-setting residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, with additional performances scheduled through December.

Top 10 Eagles Songs Sung By Glenn Frey

# 10 – Outlaw Man

Written by David Blue, “Outlaw Man” appeared on the Eagles’ second album, Desperado. Released as a single in 1973, the recording features Glenn Frey on lead vocals.

“Outlaw Man” reached number fifty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Its harder guitar sound gave Desperado a flash of rock-and-roll danger inside an album built around outlaws, outsiders, loneliness, and the romantic mythology of the American West.

Frey sounds fully committed to the character, delivering the lyric with the confidence and impatience of someone who has no intention of settling down. It remains one of his strongest early lead vocals.

# 9 – James Dean

“James Dean” appeared on the 1974 album On the Border. Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, and J.D. Souther shared the songwriting credit.

The song reached number seventy-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number fifty-six in Canada. Frey sings the story as a celebration of James Dean’s rebellious image while acknowledging the tragedy of a life cut short in a 1955 automobile crash.

The fast guitars and pounding rhythm give the recording a restless quality that fits its subject. “James Dean” also reflects the Eagles’ increasing move toward harder rock on On the Border.

# 8 – Peaceful Easy Feeling

“Peaceful Easy Feeling” was the third single released from the Eagles’ 1972 debut album. Jack Tempchin wrote the song, and Glenn Frey’s relaxed lead vocal became inseparable from its laid-back Southern California atmosphere.

The single reached number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty on the Adult Contemporary chart. Tempchin began writing the song during his years performing in San Diego coffeehouses, and Frey recognized its potential after hearing it in Los Angeles.

Its understated arrangement allows the Eagles’ harmonies to do much of the emotional work. Decades later, Vince Gill would perform the song in tribute to Frey after joining the Eagles. Gill and Deacon Frey have helped the surviving Eagles keep Glenn’s songs alive in concert.

# 7 – Tequila Sunrise

“Tequila Sunrise” appeared on the Eagles’ second studio album, Desperado, in 1973. Glenn Frey and Don Henley wrote the song during their first concentrated period of songwriting together.

The single reached number sixty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty-six on the Adult Contemporary chart. Frey’s restrained vocal matches a lyric about loneliness, romantic disappointment, and facing the morning after another long night.

“Tequila Sunrise” became much more famous than its original chart position suggests. Frey and Henley followed the song with decades of collaborations that would help define the Eagles’ catalog.

Alan Jackson later recorded “Tequila Sunrise” for the 1993 tribute album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, introducing the song to another generation of country listeners.

# 6 – Already Gone

“Already Gone” was the first single released from the Eagles’ 1974 album On the Border. Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund wrote the song, and Glenn Frey’s lead vocal gives the lyric its defiant sense of release.

The single reached number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twelve in Canada. Its harder guitar attack signaled the band’s growing move from country rock toward the arena-ready sound that would dominate its later albums.

“Already Gone” remains one of the most durable rockers in the Eagles catalog. Frey’s exuberant vocal and the band’s stacked harmonies turn a breakup song into a celebration of freedom.

# 5 – Take It to the Limit

“Take It to the Limit” requires an important distinction on a list of Eagles songs sung by Glenn Frey. The original studio recording from One of These Nights featured Randy Meisner on lead vocals, not Frey. Meisner co-wrote the song with Frey and Don Henley, and the single reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.

After Meisner left the Eagles in 1977, Frey eventually took over the lead vocal in concert. Those later performances gave the song a different character, replacing Meisner’s soaring tenor with Frey’s more grounded and conversational delivery.

On March 7, 2009, I saw the Eagles perform in Edmonton, Alberta, with Frey at the piano. Before “Take It to the Limit,” he joked that the title described his former wife’s credit-card habits. What stayed with me was not simply the joke but the way every member shared pieces of the band’s history throughout the evening. It remains one of the best concerts I have ever attended.

Meisner’s difficulty with the song’s demanding high notes became a source of tension during the 1970s, but it was not the only reason he left the group. Timothy B. Schmit replaced Meisner on bass. After Frey’s death, Vince Gill became one of the singers entrusted with “Take It to the Limit” in Eagles concerts.

# 4 – Heartache Tonight

“Heartache Tonight” appeared on the 1979 album The Long Run. With Glenn Frey on lead vocals, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the final Eagles single to top that chart.

Frey and J.D. Souther began developing the song before Frey called Bob Seger and played him what they had. Seger helped shape the chorus, and Don Henley also contributed to the finished composition.

The handclaps, stomping rhythm, guitars, and Frey’s exuberant vocal make “Heartache Tonight” one of the band’s most physical recordings. The performance won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

For me, the song also carries a personal connection to growing up watching Stampede Wrestling in Edmonton. Brian Pillman and Bruce Hart used “Heartache Tonight” as entrance music during their tag-team run, another example of how naturally the song works in a loud arena.

# 3 – New Kid in Town

“New Kid in Town” was the first single released from the 1976 album Hotel California. Glenn Frey handled the lead vocal, with Don Henley supplying the prominent harmony.

The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topped the Canadian singles chart. It later won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement for Voices, honoring the extraordinary vocal blend that makes the recording so distinctive.

J.D. Souther brought the original idea to Frey and Henley, and the three developed it into a song about the excitement surrounding someone new and the uncomfortable knowledge that popularity rarely lasts forever.

Joe Walsh had joined the band by this point, replacing Bernie Leadon. “New Kid in Town” demonstrated that the new lineup could preserve the Eagles’ vocal identity while expanding its instrumental possibilities.

# 2 – Take It Easy

“Take It Easy” was the Eagles’ first single and the opening track on their 1972 debut album. Jackson Browne began writing the song, and Glenn Frey helped complete it.

Jackson Browne was struggling to finish the composition while living below Frey in the same Echo Park apartment building. Frey’s contribution included the famous Winslow, Arizona, verse, and the finished Eagles arrangement transformed the song into an ideal introduction to the band.

The single reached number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight in Canada. Jackson Browne later recorded the song for his 1973 album For Everyman.

For Jackson Browne, Frey’s arrangement brought out qualities in the song that he had not originally imagined. The relationship between the two writers remained important throughout their careers, and Jackson Browne would eventually help the Eagles honor Frey with “Take It Easy” at the 2016 Grammy Awards.

The song also inspired Travis Tritt’s version for Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. The video for Tritt’s recording famously brought the Eagles together on camera and helped create momentum for the 1994 reunion.

# 1 – Lyin’ Eyes

We close our Top 10 Eagles Songs Sung By Glenn Frey list with “Lyin’ Eyes,” released from One of These Nights in 1975. Frey’s warm lead vocal made the song one of the Eagles’ greatest examples of storytelling through country-rock.

“Lyin’ Eyes” reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number three on the Adult Contemporary chart, and number eight on the country chart. In 1976, it gave the Eagles their first Grammy Award, winning Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Glenn Frey and Don Henley found the seed of the song while spending time at Dan Tana’s restaurant in Los Angeles. They noticed a young woman with an older wealthy man and began imagining the hidden life behind the scene. From that observation came one of their most detailed character studies.

On One of These Nights, “Lyin’ Eyes” is Frey’s major solo lead-vocal showcase. He also shares lead vocals with Henley on “After the Thrill Is Gone.” The full album version of “Lyin’ Eyes” runs considerably longer than the edited single, giving the story room to unfold verse by verse.

The combination of Frey’s understated singing, Henley’s harmony, acoustic guitars, and vivid lyric makes “Lyin’ Eyes” one of the Eagles’ most timeless recordings and our number-one Glenn Frey vocal.