Remember When Glenn Frey Played His Final Show With the Eagles?
When the Eagles closed out their History of the Eagles Tour in 2015, nobody could have known that it would mark the group's last concert with founding member Glenn Frey. The singer, guitarist and songwriter played his final public show with the Eagles on July 29, 2015, at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, La.
The History of the Eagles Tour was an ambitious multi-year trek that launched on July 6, 2013, in Louisville, Ky., and continued for a total of more than 140 dates in 12 countries.
The career-spanning shows began with Frey and fellow founding member Don Henley performing an early Eagles song titled "Saturday Night" before original guitarist Bernie Leadon joined them for "Train Leaves Here This Morning," another early favorite.
According to Setlist.fm, Frey's final concert as a member of the Eagles ran through 27 songs, including "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Lyin' Eyes," "One of These Nights," "Take It to the Limit," "Hotel California," "Take It Easy" and more. Frey's final live song with the group was "Desperado," a song he and Henley co-wrote that was the title song of the Eagles' sophomore album in 1973.
The Eagles played a private show at a St. Louis-area high school two days later, delivering a short set to 300 people as part of a birthday celebration for a private donor, after which they took a break. Unknown to the fans at the time, Frey had been struggling with various health issues for years, and after playing in pain for a long time, it finally caught up to him.
"When that tour ended, we just thought we would take a two-or-three-month break, then we would probably tour some more the following year," Henley recalled in an interview in 2018. "Then the tragedy happened in October. That’s really when Glenn fell ill. That’s when the pneumonia struck. So, you never know what’s going to happen in this life. It’s full of unexpected events.”
Frey died in January of 2016 at the age of 67 from complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, and fans and even the band members assumed the Eagles were finished. But on July 15, 2017, they regrouped in a new lineup that included Frey's son, Deacon, and Vince Gill, playing their first show together at Classic West at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. That new lineup has continued to tour together off and on ever since.
See Photos From the Eagles' First Gigs Without Glenn Frey