Eagles Co-Founder Glenn Frey Passes Away at 67

NYTimes.com reports that Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey died on Monday in New York City. He was 67.

An announcement on the band's website said the cause was complications of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.

The Eagles were founded in Los Angeles in 1971 by Frey and the drummer and singer Don Henley. The band flamed out in 1980 and disbanded. It got back together 14 years later and in 1998, the Eagles landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose website said the Eagles sold more records than any other band in the 1970s. It had four consecutive No. 1 albums, five No. 1 singles and its "Greatest Hits 1971-1975" album alone sold upward of 26 million copies.

Glenn Lewis Frey was born in Detroit on Nov. 6, 1948, and grew up in the suburb of Royal Oak. His father was an auto factory worker; his mother, as he described it in "History of the Eagles," a 2013 documentary about the band, "baked pies at General Motors."

He played in bands around Detroit before moving to Southern California and crossing paths with the likes of Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt. Frey met drummer Don Henley in 1970. When Linda Ronstadt needed a backup band for a single gig, she hired Frey, Henley, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon on the advice of her boyfriend, J.D. Souther. Frey and Henley later joined Ronstadt's backup band for her 1971 summer tour. Afterwards, Frey, Henley, Meisner and Leadon formed the Eagles, with Frey playing guitar and keyboards and Henley playing drums.

After the breakup of the Eagles in 1980, Frey embarked on a successful solo career. He released his debut album, No Fun Aloud, in 1982 and went on to record Top 40 hits "The One You Love", "Smuggler's Blues", "Sexy Girl", "The Heat Is On", "You Belong to the City", "True Love", "Soul Searchin'", and "Livin' Right".

Survivors include his wife, Cindy, and three children, Taylor, Deacon and Otis.

PHOTO CREDIT: Glenn Frey's Official Facebook Page