Happy Birthday Don Henley

Don Henley anchored the Eagles as the band's drummer, frequent frontman, and co-leader. He wrote and sang many of their biggest songs -- "Hotel California," "Desperado," "The Long Run," "Best of My Love," "Life in the Fast Lane," "One of These Nights" were among his signatures, classic rock staples all -- but he also found considerable success on his own in the '80s following the group's disbandment. He established a distinctive, flinty voice right out the gate with "Dirty Laundry," the Top 10 hit from his 1982 solo debut I Can't Stand Still, but 1984's Building the Perfect Beast was a blockbuster, aided by the chilly, stylish MTV hit "Boys of Summer." Three other singles were pulled from the record -- the Top 10 "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," followed by the Top 40 "Not Enough Love in the World" and "Sunset Grill," all arriving in 1985 -- and he then labored on his third record, 1989's The End of the Innocence. Although this didn't have as many Top 40 hits -- the title track reached eight, followed by "The Last Worthless Evening" and "The Heart of the Matter," both peaking at 21 -- it was a bigger hit, going platinum six times, but after it ran its cycle, Henley decided to turn his attention to reuniting the Eagles in 1994, a project that kept him busy off and on for the next two years. His solo albums slowed -- he released Inside Job in 2000, 11 years after The End of the Innocence, and then took 15 years to record Cass County, his return to country-rock roots -- but he was never out of the spotlight thanks to ongoing work from the Eagles.