Early life

Donald Hugh Henley was born in Gilmer, Texas, and he grew up in the small northeast Texas town of Linden. He is the son of Hughlene (McWhorter) and C. J. Henley. He has Irish, Italian, English and Scottish ancestry. Henley attended Linden-Kildare High School where he initially played football, but due to his relatively small build his coach suggested that he quit, and he joined the high school band instead. He first played the trombone, then in the percussion section. After leaving high school in 1965, he initially attended college at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. He then attended North Texas State University (renamed in 1988 as the University of North Texas) in Denton, Texas, from 1967 to 1969. Henley left school to spend time with his father, who was dying from heart and arterial disease.

While still at high school, Henley was asked to join a Dixieland 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, then finally Shiloh, and went through a number of changes in band personnel. As the Felicity they were signed to 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 however died in a car accident just before their single was released, and the band members then became Henley, Richard Bowden and his cousin Michael Bowden, Al Perkins, and Jim Ed Norman. Rogers helped signed the band to Amos Records, and brought the band to Los Angeles in June 1970. They recorded a self-titled album produced by Rogers at Larrabee Studios, while living at the home of Rogers for a few months. Shiloh disbanded 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 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 however had only played together once before as the band personnel changed) and became the Eagles.

Tenure with the Eagles

The Eagles were formed in September 1971, and signed to David Geffen's label Asylum Records. They released their first studio album in 1972, which contained the hit song "Take It Easy", written by Frey and 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", "Life in the Fast Lane" and "Wasted Time". The Eagles won numerous Grammy Awards during the 1970s and became one of the world's most successful rock bands of all time. They are also among the top 5 overall best-selling 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 The Long Run. The Eagles subsequently reunited 14 years later in 1994. Henley continues to tour and record with the Eagles. Their latest 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, Henley announced the History of the Eagles Tour, which began in July 2013 and ended in July 2015. At the 2016 Grammy Awards, the Eagles and Jackson Browne performed "Take It Easy" as a tribute to Frey.

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 the Eagles, "me and Glenn Frey") being the ones that will likely hold the power.

Solo career

Following the breakup 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", written by Nicks for Waylon Jennings and his wife Jessi Colter, in late 1981. Henley's first solo album, I Can't Stand Still, was a moderate seller. The single "Dirty Laundry" reached No. 3 on Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of 1983 and earned a Gold-certified single for sales of over a million copies in the US. It was Henley's all-time biggest solo hit single, and also was nominated for a Grammy Award. Henley also contributed "Love Rules" to the 1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie soundtrack.

This was followed in 1984 by the 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 chart hit with "Who Owns This Place?" from 1986's The Color of Money soundtrack.

Henley's next album, 1989's The End of the Innocence, 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 Best Male Rock Vocal Performance Grammy Award in 1990 for "The End of the Innocence". Also in 1990, Henley made a brief appearance on MTV's Unplugged series.

In 1995 Henley released the single "The Garden of Allah" to promote his greatest hits solo album Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits.

MusicRadar called Henley one of the greatest singing drummers of all time.

In live shows, Henley plays drums and sings simultaneously on some Eagles songs. On his solo songs and other Eagles songs, he plays electric guitar and simultaneously sings or just sings solo. Occasionally Eagles songs would get drastic rearrangements, such as "Hotel California" with four trombones.

Lawsuits with Geffen Records

Henley spent many years in legal entanglements with the record company Geffen Records. In January 1993, following years of tension between Henley and the label, the dispute went public and the record company filed a $30-million breach-of-contract suit in the Superior Court after receiving a notice from Henley saying that he was terminating his contract even though he reportedly owed the company two more studio albums and a greatest-hits collection. Henley wanted to sign a publishing deal with EMI that would have been worth a few million dollars. Geffen Records stopped this from happening, which in turn upset Henley.

Geffen Records claimed that Henley was in breach of contract and Henley attempted to get out of his contract in 1993 based on an old statute. Under the statute, a California law enacted over 50 years ago to free actors from long-term studio deals, entertainers cannot be forced to work for any company for more than seven years. Geffen Records did not want Henley signing with any other label, and had an agreement from Sony and EMI that they would not sign Henley. Henley counter-sued Geffen Records claiming that he was "blackballed" by David Geffen, who had made agreements with other record labels not to sign him. Henley eventually became an outspoken advocate for musicians' rights, taking a stand against music labels who he feels refuse to pay bands their due royalties. Henley came to terms with Geffen Records when the Eagles reunion took off and the company eventually took a large chunk of the profit from the reunion album. Glenn Frey was also in legal entanglements with his label, MCA Records (whose parent company had also acquired Geffen). Before the Eagles reunion tour could begin, the band had to file a suit against Elektra Records, which had planned to release a new Eagles Greatest Hits album. The band won that battle.

A long period without a new recording followed, as Henley waited out a dispute with his record company while also participating in a 1994 Eagles reunion tour and live album. During the hiatus, Henley recorded a cover of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" for the film Leap of Faith, and provided the background vocals for country star Trisha Yearwood's hit single "Walkaway Joe", and duetted with Patty Smyth on "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough", and Roger Waters on "Watching TV" on Waters' Amused to Death album, in 1992. Henley provided the voice of Henry Faust in Randy Newman's Faust, a 1993 musical which was released on compact disc that year.

Henley and Courtney Love testified at a California Senate hearing on that state's contractual laws in Sacramento on September 5, 2001. In 2002 Henley became the head of the Recording Artists' Coalition. The coalition's primary aim was to raise money to mount a legal and political battle against the major record labels. Henley says the group seeks to change the fundamental rules that govern most recording contracts, including copyright ownership, long-term control of intellectual property and unfair accounting practices. This group filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Napster case, urging District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel not to accept the industry's broad claims of works made for hire authorship.

Inside Job and recent solo work

In 2000, after 11 years, Henley released another solo album named Inside Job which peaked at 7th in The Billboard 200 and contained the new singles "Taking You Home", "Everything Is Different Now, "Workin' It" and "For My Wedding". He performed songs from the album in a VH1 Storytellers episode during 2000. In 2002 a live DVD entitled Don Henley: Live Inside Job was released. In 2005 Henley opened 10 of Stevie Nicks' concerts on her Two Voices Tour.

Henley performed duets with Kenny Rogers on Rogers' 2006 release Water & Bridges, titled "Calling Me" and on Reba McEntire's 2007 album, Reba: Duets, performing "Break Each Other's Hearts Again".

In a 2007 interview with CNN, while discussing the future of the Eagles, Henley indicated he still has plans for more records: "But we all have some solo plans still. I still have a contract with a major label for a couple of solo albums." In January 2011, Henley commenced work on a solo album of country covers featuring special guests. Ronnie Dunn from Brooks & Dunn and Alison Krauss have recorded a song with Henley for the album.

On July 18, 2015, Henley started pre-orders of his album, Cass County. The album was released on September 25.

Political and other causes

In 1990, Henley founded the Walden Woods Project to help protect "Walden Woods" from development. The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods was started in 1998 to provide for research and education regarding Henry David Thoreau. In 1993, a compilation album titled Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was released, with a portion of the royalties from the sales going to the Walden Woods Project. In 2005, he had a fundraiser concert with Elton John and others to buy Brister's Hill, part of Walden Woods, and turn it into a hiking trail.

Henley co-founded the non-profit Caddo Lake Institute in 1993 with Dwight K. Shellman to underwrite ecological education and research. As part of the Caddo Lake Coalition, CLI helps protect the Texas wetland where Henley spent much of his childhood. As a result of the Caddo Lake Institute's success in restoring and protecting Caddo Lake's wetlands, Caddo Lake was included as the 13th site in the United States on the Ramsar Convention's list of significant wetlands. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides a framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

In 2000, Henley co-founded the Recording Artists' Coalition, a group founded to protect musicians' rights against common music industry business practices. In this role he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 2001 and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in 2003.

Henley in a 2008 interview revealed that he contributes to many other worthy charitable causes such as The Race to Erase MS, and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. He is also a member of the CuriosityStream Advisory Board.

A lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party, Henley has also been a generous donor to political campaigns of Democrats. In 2008, The Washington Post reported Henley had donated over $680,000 to political candidates since 1978. Several tracks on the 2007 Eagles album Long Road Out of Eden (including the title track, which Henley co-wrote) are sharply critical of the Iraq War and other policies of the Bush administration.

Personal life

In 1974, Henley became involved with Loree Rodkin, and the breakup of their relationship was the inspiration for the song "Wasted Time" and parts of lyrics of "Hotel California". Late in 1975, Henley started dating Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks as her affair with Mick Fleetwood came to an end. The relationship lasted on and off around two years, Nicks later wrote a song "Sara" about their unborn child. Henley then began a three-year-long relationship with actress/model and Bond girl Lois Chiles.

Henley called paramedics to his home on November 21, 1980, where a 16-year-old girl was found naked and claiming she had overdosed on quaaludes and cocaine. She was arrested for prostitution, while a 15-year-old girl found in the house was arrested for being under the influence of drugs. He was subsequently charged for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, fined and put on probation. Henley was arrested and pleaded no contest. He was fined $2,500 and put on two years' probation. Chiles, who was no longer in a relationship with Henley at the time of the incident, later said, "I was shocked to hear about it. He didn't have drugs around the house. It was an accident, I'm sure."

In the early 1980s, Henley was engaged to Battlestar Galactica actress Maren Jensen. His first solo album (I Can't Stand Still) is dedicated to Jensen, who also sings harmony vocals on the song, "Johnny Can't Read." Henley and Jensen separated in 1986.

In 1995, Henley married Sharon Summerall, a former model from Texas who had lived in Paris and studied art history. Performers at the wedding included Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Jackson Browne, Donna Lewis, Sheryl Crow, Glenn Frey, and Tony Bennett. Henley later wrote the song "Everything Is Different Now" from the album Inside Job for Sharon. Sharon has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They have three children together, two girls and a boy.

In 2012, Henley was estimated to be the fourth wealthiest drummer in the world, behind Ringo Starr, Phil Collins and Dave Grohl, with a $200 million fortune.

He currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and three children.

Equipment

Don Henley and backup Eagles drummer Scott Crago are both endorsed by Drum Workshop, Paiste, Remo, Evans Drumheads, Regaltip, and Vic Firth.

Drums and Percussion

Henley and Crago both used a DW drumset with a Natural Maple Finish from Hell Freezes Over in 1994 until the Farewell I tour from 2004-2005. In 2006 during Long Road Out of Eden up to present, the two use a DW Collector's series maple in matte black finish. The drum kit is set up to Henley's configuration on where he is more comfortable in playing and singing. His drum throne has a backrest.

Drums

• 6.5x14" custom snare (half Edge model) with African feather veneer
• 9x12" rack tom
• 16x16" floor tom
• 16x18" floor tom
• 18x22" bass drum

The two also use DW 9000 series hardware including a DW two-leg hi-hat stand. All stands have custom matte black powder-coat finish. Henley uses Regaltip drumsticks with Vic Firth grip tape even for percussion.

Percussion

• Gon Bops Alex Acuña series quinto and conga congas
• 5x12", 5x14", and 5x15" DW maple (custom) timbales
• A variety of John Deere cowbells and small and large cowbells
• LP Cyclops tambourines (two mounted models with brass jingles, and one steel-jingle model mounted vertically with custom foam for less attack),
• A LP castanet machine
• 18" Factory Metal Cross Benderz effects cymbal toy
• Triple-banded LP Soft shake

Cymbals

Drum kit cymbals are Paiste Formula 602 Modern Essentials and Formula 602 Classic Sounds

• 14" hi-hats
• 10" splash
• 16" crash
• 18" crash
• 20" ride
• 18" 602 Classic Sounds Thin crash
• 18" china

Percussion cymbals are Paiste Twenty series

• 10" splashes x2
• 16" crashes x2

Heads

In his earlier years Henley used Remo Coated powerstroke 3's on his snare drum and bass drum batters and Coated ambassadors on his tom batters and clear ambassadors bottoms. Even though his kit uses Evans, Henley still uses Remo coated ambassadors but not on his drum kit but on the timbales.

• Evans ST Dry Coated snare batter and HD 300 bottom
• Evans G2 Coated tom batters and Onyx bottoms
• Evans EQ3 Frosted bass drum batter with black DW front head
• Remo Coated ambassadors on timbales

Guitars

Henley uses a Fender Telecaster, a few Gibson Guitars, and a Takamine acoustic-electric guitar model.

Discography

Main articles: Don Henley discography and Eagles discography

• I Can't Stand Still (1982)
• Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
• The End of the Innocence (1989)
• Inside Job (2000)
• Cass County (2015)

Awards and nominations

Don Henley has won 2 Grammys, and further award associated with Grammy, MusiCares Person of the Year. He has also won a number of other awards, such as the MTV Music Video Awards for "The Boys Of Summer" in 1985, and "The End of the Innocence" in 1990. See the article on Eagles for awards won as the band.

Grammy

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref.
1983	"Dirty Laundry"	Rock Male Vocalist	Nominated
1986	"The Boys Of Summer"	Rock Male Vocalist	Won
		Record Of The Year	Nominated
		Song Of The Year	Nominated
	Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar, Greg Ladanyi	Producer Of The Year	Nominated
1990	"The End of the Innocence"	Rock Male Vocalist	Won
		Record Of The Year	Nominated
		Song Of The Year	Nominated
	The End of the Innocence	Album of the Year	Nominated
1993	"Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough", Patty Smyth & Don Henley	Pop Performance by a Duo	Nominated
2001	"Taking You Home"	Male Pop Vocal Performance	Nominated
	"Workin' It"	Rock Male Vocalist	Nominated
	Inside Job	Pop Vocal Album	Nominated
2002	"Inside Out", Trisha Yearwood & Don Henley	Country Collaboration with Vocals	Nominated
2003	"It's So Easy", Sheryl Crow & Don Henley	Pop Collaboration with Vocals	Nominated
2007	Don Henley	MusiCares Person of the Year	Won
	"Calling Me", Kenny Rogers & Don Henley	Country Collaboration with Vocals	Nominated
2016	"The Cost of Living", Stan Lynch and Don Henley	American Roots Song	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]