Eagles Hit Hollywood, Stadiums in 2010

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After grossing more than $130 million over the course of 103 shows, the Eagles are beefing up their two-year Long Road Out of Eden tour by hitting eight stadiums in June. They’ll be bringing along two of country’s hottest acts, Keith Urban and the Dixie Chicks, who are touring for the first time since 2006. “When the Eagles call, you do whatever they say,” says singer Martie Maguire. The Eagles are consistently one of rock’s biggest touring acts, but by adding Urban and the Dixie Chicks, the band has assembled one of the summer’s strongest bills. “We share musical roots with these other groups,” says Eagles frontman Don Henley. “Plus, they’ll help us fill stadiums in this still-shaky economy.”

Adds Alex Hodges, CEO of Los Angeles promoter Nederlander Concerts, “I think it’s an amazing combination, and the music all fits. You’re going to get two to three generations of cross-pollinated fans.”

But before they hit stadiums this summer, the Eagles ”“ who also include singer Glenn Frey, guitarist Joe Walsh and bassist Timothy B Schmit ”“ will play their first shows at the Hollywood Bowl in mid-April, a three-night stand that will be a homecoming celebration for the quintessential Los Angeles band. “We’ll keep things upbeat,” says Henley. “But these shows will have an underlying poignancy for me and Glenn because we lived just a block away from the Bowl when we started the band decades ago. Add to that the possibility that these may be our last LA shows, and the whole thing becomes somewhat bittersweet.”

The 2010 leg will feature the same super-polished shows the group is known for, mixing cuts from its smash 2007 comeback record, Long Road Out of Eden, with plenty of classics. “We will not be playing any brand-new things,” says Henley. “Despite what the critics think, that never works.”

Henley, who will turn 63 in July, has settled into his role as a family man with wife Sharon and their three young kids in Dallas. “We live a life here that is gratifyingly normal,” he says. He’s also plotting the next phase of his solo career. “I have three different albums in my head,” he says. “A country-bluegrass-blues record, a Sixties-style-soul disc and one of contemporary covers.”

In the meantime, Henley is busy capitalising on the band’s resurgence: “I want to complete a global circuit,” says the singer, who hopes to tour in Asia next. He adds that band relations are relatively copacetic. “Things are peaceful, but we haven’t seen each other since New Year’s Eve,” Henley jokes. “There are rarely flare-ups, but I have to bite my tongue fairly often. Eventually, I’m either going to have to get a tongue transplant or quit the band.”