Sure, you can check out any time you like at the Hotel California, but they made it clear you can never truly leave. Eagles’ long run will end with their upcoming tour, their final outing as a band after five decades. “We know how fortunate we are and we are truly grateful,†the members said in a collective statement. “But everything has its time, and the time has come for us to close the circle. The official farewell tour is currently in the planning stages. We want to give all our fans a chance to see us on this final round.†The tour is expected to last until 2025 and will be scheduled “depending on demand†across cities. (Let’s try to summon Eras Tour level of chaos to honor them.) “Most importantly, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for embracing this band and its music,†they added. “At the end of the day, you are the reason we have been able to carry on for over five decades. This is our swan song, but the music goes on and on.†Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit, along with Vince Gill and Deacon Frey, will, of course, be present for the entirety of the tour.
Steely Dan will be joining Eagles as a “special guest†opener for the fall tour dates, adding an intriguing bookend to their relationship. For those not well versed in their friendly rivalry, the bands traded jabs during their prolific mid-’70s outputs: Donald Fagen and Walter Becker teased on The Royal Scam’s “Everything You Did†that a bickering couple should “turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listeningâ€; Eagles soon responded with a line in “Hotel California†in which “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast.†(Henley was also fired by Steely Dan during the Aja sessions, which was pretty much a rite of passage for any musician.) Glenn Frey later voiced his admiration for Steely Dan’s approach to music, which served as an inspiration for several Hotel California tracks. “We were sort of trying to expand our lyrical horizons and just take on something in the realm of the bizarre, as Steely Dan had done,†Frey explained. “One of the things that impressed us about Steely Dan was that they would say anything in their songs, and it didn’t have to necessarily make sense.†That’s great, but we’re mostly hopeful this tour can serve as a “Second Arrangement†debut.