1. Bernard Matthew Leadon III is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
22 Facts About Bernie Leadon
1. 2.
Bernie Leadon is a multi-instrumentalist coming from a bluegrass background.
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Bernie Leadon introduced elements of this music to a mainstream audience during his tenure with the Eagles.
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Bernie Leadon has appeared on many other artists' records as a session musician.
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In San Diego, California, Bernie Leadon met fellow musicians Ed Douglas and Larry Murray of the local bluegrass outfit the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers.
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The Barkers proved a breeding ground for future California country rock talent, including shy, 18-year-old mandolin player Chris Hillman, with whom Bernie Leadon maintained a lifelong friendship.
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Bernie Leadon later met future Eagles lead guitarist Don Felder, whose band, the Continentals, had just lost guitarist Stephen Stills.
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Bernie Leadon recorded one album with the band, its second release, Of Horses, Kids, and Forgotten Women, for Capitol Records.
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Bernie Leadon recorded two albums with the group: Burrito Deluxe and the post-Parsons LP The Flying Burrito Bros.
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Bernie Leadon is often credited with helping shape the band's early country-rock sound, bringing his strong sense of harmony as well as his country, bluegrass and acoustic sensibilities to the group.
11.
Bernie Leadon had a prominent role on the album but it was met by surprisingly lukewarm reviews and lackluster sales.
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In doing so, Bernie Leadon encouraged the group to recruit his old friend, guitarist Don Felder, to the band.
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The album included "My Man", Bernie Leadon's touching tribute to his old bandmate and friend Gram Parsons, who had died of a drug overdose the year prior at Joshua Tree National Monument in southeastern California.
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Bernie Leadon famously quit the band in 1975 by pouring a beer over Glenn Frey's head.
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Bernie Leadon later cited a need to get healthy and break the vicious cycle of touring, recording and heavy drug use that was rampant within the band.
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Bernie Leadon was replaced by former James Gang guitarist and singer Joe Walsh.
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Bernie Leadon had a short stint with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the late 1980s.
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In 1998, Bernie Leadon reunited with the Eagles in New York City for the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Bernie Leadon toured with the Eagles from 2013 through 2015 during their History of the Eagles Tour In 2015, Bernie Leadon appeared on producer Ethan Johns' third solo album, Silver Liner.
20.
In February 2016, Leadon appeared at the Grammy Awards ceremony with Jackson Browne and the surviving Eagles members - Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B Schmit - performing "Take it Easy", in tribute to Glenn Frey who had died a month earlier.
21.
Bernie Leadon's house-plus-recording-studio had previously been owned by singer-songwriter Neil Young, and was the site of frequent parties.
22.
Bernie Leadon lived with Patti Davis, the daughter of conservative California Governor Ronald Reagan, who was at that time campaigning for president and distancing himself from his daughter because Bernie Leadon and she were unmarried but living together.