Randy Meisner, bassist and founding member of The Eagles, dies aged 77

American bassist and singer Randy Meisner, a founding member of the band Eagles, died in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening aged 77, following complications from chronic lung disease, a statement on the band's website announced on Thursday.

 

Randy Meisner was the first bassist and singer of Eagles, one of the best-selling bands in rock history, with such iconic titles as Hotel California, Take It Easy and One of These Nights.

 

Born into a Nebraska farming family in March 1946, the musician played with Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band and Poco, before co-founding Eagles in 1971.

 

The band has sold over 150 million albums in a career spanning more than half a century, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Pioneers of laid-back, country-tinged rock from the West Coast, Eagles dominated American pop in the early 1970s, seeing its members change over the decades. Founding member Glenn Frey died in 2016 at the age of 67.

 

The current line-up of Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit will embark on a final tour, starting in September in New York and lasting until 2025. Randy Meisner, who left the band in the late 1970s and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, was not scheduled to take part in the tour.