Most Popular Eagles Songs of All Time, Ranked
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The Eagles have etched an indelible mark on classic rock with timeless hits that continue to resonate across generations. From the freewheeling spirit of "Hotel California" to the harmonious allure of "Seven Bridges Road," the Eagles blend intricate melodies, soulful vocals and thought-provoking lyrics.
With their fusion of rock, country and folk influences, the Eagles have sold over 150 million records in the U.S. alone, making them one of the best-selling music artists in history. As they embark on their final tour, these are their all-time most successful songs, according to their popularity rank on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
15. Tequila Sunrise
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Date released: April 17, 1973
Album: Desperado
Chart position: 64
Glenn Frey and Don Henley wrote this Western-style song comparing the life of a cowboy to a musician, as both lifestyles are transient. Frey was the lead vocalist and came up with the title.
According to Henley, "I think he was ambivalent about it because he thought that [the title] was a bit too obvious or too much of a cliché because of the drink that was so popular. I said, 'No — look at it from a different point of view. You've been drinking straight tequila all night, and the sun is coming up!' It turned out to be a really great song."
14. Already Gone
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Date released: April 19, 1974
Album: On the Border
Chart position: 32
"Already Gone" was one of the few songs not written by any member of the Eagles. It was penned by songwriters Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund in the late 1960s. At the time, Tempchin was managing a San Diego club. "We were playing one night, and we were in the back room, which was the kitchen where there were these big refrigerator doors. I opened the door, and there was a white jug. So I got this jug out, and for some reason, we thought it would be OK to just drink out of this jug. It was hard cider, and I had never had any alcohol or any drugs or anything at that point.
"So, we were drinking out of this jug, and we started to feel really good, and I said, 'Let's write a country song.' So in about 20 minutes in the back room there, we wrote 'Already Gone.' The chorus goes 'woo hoo hoo' because I just felt so good suddenly."
13. Peaceful Easy Feeling
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Date released: Dec. 1, 1972
Album: Eagles
Chart position: 22
Jack Tempchin wrote this song in 1969. He was staying with Jackson Browne when he came to Los Angeles — Glenn Frey popped in for a visit, and the rest is history. Tempchin said of its meaning: "It's not a love song exactly. The guy's going, 'Hey, either way, it's going to be fine.'"
The song is a fan favorite to this day.
12. Seven Bridges Road
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Date released: Dec. 15, 1980
Album: Eagles Live
Chart position: 21
"Seven Bridges Road" is a cover of a song written by Steve Young and recorded in 1969. While there are many interpretations of it out there, the Eagles' version is the most well-known.
The Eagles would warm up with the song before hitting the stage. According to Don Felder, when they started doing it on stage, it was an instant success. "[It] blew [the audience] away. It was always a vocally unifying moment, all five voices coming together in harmony."
Their performance of the song is from a July 28, 1980, concert in Santa Monica, California. "Seven Bridges Road" would be their last Top 40 hit until the mid-1990s.
11. Take It Easy
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Date released: May 1, 1972
Album: Eagles
Chart position: 12
Jackson Browne started writing "Take It Easy," but couldn't figure out how to finish it. As luck would have it, his downstairs neighbor was Glenn Frey who had been playing in Linda Ronstadt's band and had just formed the Eagles.
Frey offered the lyric, "It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me" and helped Browne finish the song. He recorded it with the Eagles, and the song became their first hit.
10. Life in the Fast Lane
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Date released: May 3, 1977
Album: The Long Run
Chart position: 11
Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley penned "Life in the Fast Lane" about a typical Hollywood couple living life in excess. The title came to Frey while he was driving around L.A. with his drug dealer, who was behind the wheel and going too fast. When Frey asked him to slow down, he responded, "That's life in the fast lane."
Frey said, "'Life in the Fast Lane' kind of expressed the stereotyped L.A., 'run around in your Porsche,' 24-hour boogie mode that unfortunately is too true for a lot of people. It wasn't really a statement about the guys in the band or about anybody in particular — just it's kind of disturbing to see the extremes that the bourgeois jet set will involve themselves in. For instance, disco almost turned into a lifestyle, and it's such a non-meaningful thing on which to base one's life."
9. I Can't Tell You Why
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Date released: Feb. 8, 1980
Album: The Long Run
Chart position: 10
"I Can't Tell You Why" was written by Timothy B. Schmit, Frey and Henley and features Schmit on lead vocals. It explores themes of love, introspection and the complexities of relationships via a couple's conversation. By the end, we never know if the couple broke up or remained together.
But it doesn't matter: "I Can't Tell You Why" is still popular among fans today.
8. Witchy Woman
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Date released: Aug. 1, 1972
Album: Eagles
Chart position: 9
Don Henley and Bernie Leadon (he quit the band in 1975) wrote "Witchy Woman," which was an instant smash. It was one of the earliest successful singles for the Eagles.
"Witchy Woman" describes a woman who captivates and bewitches the singer. Henley based the lyrics on several women he knew and one he didn't know — Zelda Fitzgerald (wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald.) He was reading her biography while writing the song.
7. The Long Run
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Date released: Nov. 27, 1979
Album: The Long Run
Chart position: 8
The title track to the 1979 album, "The Long Run" was a musical homage to Stax/Memphis R&B. Thematically, however, it was a bit darker, as the musicians were beginning to face their age.
Don Henley told Rolling Stone, "Despite the extraordinary success of 'Hotel California,' we were collectively in a pretty dark place during the making of 'The Long Run.' Disco had exploded, and punk was on the rise. We were beginning to see press articles about how we were passé. Those kinds of jabs were part of the inspiration for the song 'The Long Run' — "Who is gonna make it/ We'll find out in the long run."
6. Take It to the Limit
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Date released: Nov. 15, 1975
Album: One of These Nights
Chart position: 4
One of the few songs sung by bassist Randy Meisner (who passed away in July 2023) and written by Meisner, Frey and Henley, "Take It to the Limit" made it to No. 4 on the Billboard charts.
Meisner didn't like performing the song live, even though it was a hit with audiences. This became a bone of contention for the band. It eventually led to a physical altercation between him and Frey and his eventual departure from the Eagles.
5. Lyin' Eyes
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Date released: Sept. 8, 1975
Album: One of These Nights
Chart position: 2
Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote this all-time classic. The Eagles have said they wrote the song as an ode to the women they saw around Hollywood who were married to wealthy men. Don Henley stated: "It was about all these girls that would come down to Dan Tana's looking beautiful. They'd be there from 8 o'clock until midnight having drinks with all of us rockers, then they'd go home because they were kept women."
"Lyin' Eyes" made it to No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart and into the top 10 on the Billboard Country Chart. The Eagles also won a Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus Grammy for the song in 1976.
1. Heartache Tonight (Tie)
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Date released: Sept. 18, 1979
Album: The Long Run
Chart position: 1
Henley and Frey wrote "Heartache Tonight" with Bob Seger and J.D. Souther. Frey (who took lead vocals on the song) had been friends with Seger since he was in his late teens.
According to Souther, "Glenn Frey and I had been listening to Sam Cooke records at my house. So, we were just walking around clapping our hands and snapping fingers and singing the verses to those songs. The melody sounds very much like those Sam Cooke shuffles."
Seger and Frey added the chorus, and the song won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1979.
1. Best of My Love (Tie)
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Date released: Nov. 5, 1974
Album: On the Border
Chart position: 1
While most people think "Best Of My Love" is a song about a romance at its height, it's really a breakup song. Henley and Frey wrote the song with Souther over drinks at L.A. restaurant Dan Tanas. According to Henley, they were "typical, frustrated, young men" discussing their relationships.
The song was the band's first No. 1 hit in the U.S.
1. New Kid in Town (Tie)
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Year released: Dec. 7, 1976
Album: Hotel California
Chart position: 1
The third No. 1 hit for the Eagles was written by Frey, Henley and Souther and was about their "replacements." Disco and punk were burgeoning genres with new artists, and bands like the Eagles were beginning to feel old hat.
According to Souther, "'New Kid' emerged from our whole fascination with gunfire as an analogy. The point was at some point some kid would come riding into town that was much faster than you, and he'd say so, and then he'd prove it.
"That's the story of life. That's the story of aging, especially coming out of your teenage and young man years, and as you approach 30, you begin to see that things don't stay the same forever. And that there are a lot of other guys like you and gals like you that want the same thing that are coming up, and they want their moment, too, and they're going to get it. And it's fine. It's as it should be."
1. Hotel California (Tie)
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Date released: Feb. 22, 1977
Album: Hotel California
Chart position: 1
If you ever listen to any classic rock station, the odds are good that on the day you listen, the DJ will spin "Hotel California." The song is to the Eagles what "Stairway to Heaven" is to Led Zeppelin.
Theories abound to this day as to what it's about. Some people believe it has something to with Satan, while others say it's about drug addiction. Don Henley states that it's a generalized take on being a rock star in L.A. in the 1970s. "Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce ... It's a song about a journey from innocence to experience."
The hit song and the album of the same name were massive chart-toppers. The single sold over 16 million copies in the U.S. alone, and it won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1978.