1. Donald Hugh Henley was born on July 22,1947 and is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member.
55 Facts About Don Henley
1. 2.
Don Henley has released five studio albums, two compilation albums, and one live DVD.
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Don Henley has released seven studio albums with the Eagles and five as a solo artist.
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Don Henley has played a founding role in several environmental and political causes, most notably the Walden Woods Project.
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Don Henley attended Linden-Kildare High School, where he initially played football; due to his relatively small build, his coach suggested that he quit, and he joined the high school band instead.
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Don Henley first played the trombone, then moved to the percussion section.
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In Los Angeles, Don Henley met Glenn Frey as they were both signed to the same label, and they were recruited by John Boylan to be members of Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her tour in 1971.
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On his songwriting in the band, Don Henley stated in a March 2001 interview on Charlie Rose that "rock bands work best as a benevolent dictatorship", with the principal songwriters in a band being the ones that will likely hold the power.
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Don Henley's first solo album, I Can't Stand Still, was a moderate seller.
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Don Henley contributed "Love Rules" to the 1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie soundtrack.
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Don Henley won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song.
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Don Henley again won the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance Grammy Award in 1990 for "The End of the Innocence".
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Also in 1990, Don Henley made a brief appearance on MTV's Unplugged series.
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In 1995, Don Henley released the single "The Garden of Allah" to promote his greatest hits solo album Actual Miles: Don Henley's Greatest Hits.
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In live shows, Don Henley plays drums and sings simultaneously on some Eagles songs.
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Don Henley spent many years in legal entanglements with Geffen Records.
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Don Henley wanted to sign a publishing deal with EMI that would have been worth a few million dollars.
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Geffen Records claimed that Don Henley was in breach of contract and Don Henley attempted to get out of his contract in 1993 based on a 50-year-old California statute.
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Geffen Records did not want Don Henley signing with any other label, and had an agreement with Sony and EMI that they would not sign Don Henley.
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Don Henley counter-sued Geffen Records, claiming that he was "blackballed" by David Geffen, who had made agreements with other record labels to not sign him.
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Don Henley eventually became an outspoken advocate for musicians' rights, taking a stand against music labels who he believes refuse to pay bands their due royalties.
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Don Henley came to terms with Geffen Records when the Eagles' reunion took off and the company eventually took a large chunk of the profit from the reunion album.
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Don Henley provided the voice of Henry Faust in Randy Newman's Faust, a 1993 musical which was released on compact disc that year.
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In 2002 Don Henley became the head of the Recording Artists' Coalition.
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Don Henley says the group seeks to change the fundamental rules that govern most recording contracts, including copyright ownership, long-term control of intellectual property and unfair accounting practices.
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Don Henley performed songs from the album in a VH1 Storytellers episode during 2000.
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In 2005, Don Henley opened 10 of Stevie Nicks' concerts on her Two Voices Tour.
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On July 18,2015, Don Henley started pre-orders of his album, Cass County.
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Don Henley was honored with the "Lifetime Achievement" award during the East Texas Music Awards event in 2015.
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In 1990, Don Henley founded the Walden Woods Project to help protect "Walden Woods" from development.
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In 2000, Don Henley co-founded the Recording Artists' Coalition, a group founded to protect musicians' rights against common music industry business practices.
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Don Henley is a member of the CuriosityStream Advisory Board.
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In 2008, The Washington Post reported Henley had donated over $680,000 to political candidates since 1978.
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Don Henley was not thrilled that the song was co-written by Patti Davis, who was the daughter of Ronald Reagan, the Republican governor of California at that time.
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On June 2,2020, Don Henley gave testimony to the United States Congress regarding his views on copyright law, specifically the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
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Don Henley argued that the act is outdated, unfair to artists, and that it is not sufficiently enforced.
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Opposition to Don Henley's views was particularly widespread among online content creators, many of whom had been subject to YouTube copyright strikes pertaining to the use of songs by Don Henley or the Eagles, regardless of the legitimacy of the claim in question.
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Don Henley is known for actively taking down online content involving music for which he holds copyright, doing so even when the content in question is considered fair use.
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In 1974, Don Henley became involved with Lorelei Shellist, and the breakup of their relationship was the inspiration for the song "Wasted Time" and parts of the lyrics for "Hotel California".
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Late in 1975, Don Henley started dating Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks as her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham came to an end.
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The relationship lasted on and off for around two years, and Don Henley claimed that Nicks wrote her song "Sara" about their unborn child.
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Don Henley later wrote the song "Everything Is Different Now" from the album Inside Job for Summerall.
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In 2012, Don Henley was estimated to be the fourth-wealthiest drummer in the world, with a combined fortune of $200 million.
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In February 2024, it was revealed that Don Henley had stalled plans for an Eagles biography that writer Ed Sanders planned to publish.
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Don Henley called paramedics to his home on November 21,1980, and there they found a naked 16-year-old girl claiming she had overdosed on quaaludes and cocaine.
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Don Henley was arrested for prostitution, while a 15-year-old girl found in the house was arrested for being under the influence of drugs.
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Don Henley was arrested and subsequently charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
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Don Henley pled no contest, was fined $2,500 and put on two years' probation.
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The attorneys had sought to introduce a letter Don Henley wrote to a Santa Monica probation officer giving his account of the events leading up to Don Henley's arrest.
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Don Henley said he and the girl had a few drinks and did some cocaine, and later she had what appeared to him to be an epileptic seizure.
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Don Henley called paramedics, but the girl had recovered by the time they arrived.
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Don Henley said it was only when the paramedics asked the girl questions that he learned she was underage.
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Don Henley has won two Grammys and a further award associated with the Grammys, MusiCares Person of the Year.
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Don Henley has won a number of other awards, such as MTV Music Video Awards for "The Boys Of Summer" in 1985, and "The End of the Innocence" in 1990.
55.
In May 2012, Henley was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music along with Timothy B Schmit, Joe Walsh and Glenn Frey.