Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh stood out as one of rock & roll’s most distinctive personalities across his early successes in the James Gang, his years alongside the Eagles, and a thriving solo path, bringing his signature reedy voice, eccentric songwriting, and sweeping guitar work to enduring AOR tracks such as “Funk #49,” “Rocky Mountain Way,” and “Life’s Been Good.” Walsh entered the world on November 20, 1947, in Wichita, Kansas; he first took up the oboe and clarinet before switching to bass for neighborhood outfits the G-Clefs and the Nomads. While enrolled at Kent State University he turned to guitar, leading the student band the Measles between 1965 and 1969.

He soon moved to Cleveland and signed on with the hard-rock power trio the James Gang, contributing to the group’s first album, Yer’ Album. Their 1970 follow-up, The James Gang Rides Again, marked a commercial breakthrough, propelled by the FM staple “Funk #49” and eventual gold certification. Although Thirds also performed well and delivered the well-known “Walk Away,” Walsh felt restricted by the trio format and departed shortly afterward.

After settling in Colorado he assembled Barnstorm and cut a self-titled debut in 1972, then launched his official solo career the next year with The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get. That album reached the Top Ten thanks to the popular single “Rocky Mountain Way” and was succeeded in 1974 by So What. Following 1976’s You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind, Walsh stepped in for guitarist Bernie Leadon within the celebrated West Coast quintet the Eagles, appearing on their blockbuster release Hotel California. He maintained his solo output as well, releasing But Seriously, Folks… in 1978; its centerpiece, the comedic “Life’s Been Good”—a sharp depiction of rock-star excess—became his highest-charting pop single, stopping just short of the Top Ten.

During 1979 Walsh declared his candidacy for President of the United States, pledging “free gas for everyone” should he prevail (he did not). The same year the Eagles issued their last studio album, the chart-topping The Long Run. The Urban Cowboy soundtrack supplied Walsh’s subsequent solo hit “All Night Long,” which reached the Top 20 in summer 1980. Though 1981’s There Goes the Neighborhood contained his last Top 40 single, “A Life of Illusion,” he kept issuing recordings, returning in 1983 with You Bought It: You Name It and following two years later with The Confessor. In the interim he mounted another unsuccessful bid for vice president.

After Got Any Gum? appeared in 1987 he joined Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band on tour, then resumed solo work with 1991’s Ordinary Average Guy. In 1994 he reunited with the Eagles for the massive Hell Freezes Over tour and continued performing both with the band and as a solo artist in subsequent years. In 2012, following extensive Eagles touring and fresh songwriting, Walsh made his first solo album under the guidance of producer Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra and drummer Ringo Starr. The resulting Analog Man, something of a return, reflected Walsh’s sense of being out of step with digital recording methods at age 64 and his struggle to adapt to broader technological change.