FACT SHEET
* Hell Freezes Over (Geffen Records), the first Eagles album of new recordings since 1980, released on November 8, 1994. "Get Over It," the first single, is released October 11. Produced by the Eagles with Elliot Scheiner and Rob Jacobs, Hell Freezes Over features four newly-penned compositions recorded in the studio plus 11 selections culled from the Eagles' live MTV performance, taped on April 25 and 26, 1994 and premiered October 26, 1994. The MTV set was the first time Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Don Felder, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh had performed together in 14 years, and kicked off a coast-to-coast sold-out, critically-acclaimed North American tour.
* Hell Freezes Over (Geffen Home Video) is released November 22, 1994. It features the MTV concert broadcast plus behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with band members and two performances not heard on the album ("Help Me Through The Night" and "The Heart Of The Matter"), plus live versions of four new songs ("Get Over It," "Love Will Keep Us Alive," "Girl From Yesterday," and "Learn To Be Still").
* The Eagles have sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, earning four #1 albums, five #1 singles, and four Grammy Awards. The Eagles sold more albums in the '70's than any other American band.
* In the 18 months between December 1976 and June 1978, the Eagles sold more than 18 million copies of the albums "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 and "Hotel California". The Eagles have become the only group to have two albums sell more than 10 million copies each domestically, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
* Their Greatest Hits' 1971-1975 is the second biggest selling album of all-time in the United States (more than 14 million copies) and was the first album ever to receive platinum certification. Hotel California has sold more than 10 million copies domestically; The Long Run more than four million. Sales of each of the band's five other albums have also reached past the one million mark.
* The band's catalog has consistently sold more than 1.5 million records annually since 1980.
* Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles (1993), a compilation of Eagles songs performed by Nashville artists, has sold more than three million copies and was awarded the Country Music Association's Album of the Year Award in 1994. The album is an all-star country tribute with a portion of royalties benefiting the Walden Woods Project, which was founded by Don Henley in 1990 to help protect the woodland area surrounding Walden Pond.
The following are excerpts from newspaper articles that were included with the press kit.
Reunion has a peaceful, easy feeling - USA Today by Edna Gundersen.
Their feathers ruffled, the Eagles flew the nest 14 years ago. A long awaited reunion tour, starting with Friday's first of seven sold-out shows in Southern California, could be '94's most lucrative rock outing. But don't suggest the country-rock legend is reuniting to cash in or sell out.
"We've never been inclined to do anything for money," says Don Henley, resting in one of the bands's five identical trailer, parked like circled wagons outside a rehearsal hall at Culver Studios.
"We've never endorsed a product. We've never toured with a corporate sponsor. If we weren't getting along and having a good time and being creative in writing new material, we simply would not be here. That's our bottom line." Cynics are eyeing another bottom line: A global tour and new album some say could gross $300 million. There's been grumbling about tickets priced up to $115. But Barbra Streisand gets triple that. And brokers found they could quadruple the cost of premium Eagles seats, the few that fans didn't snatch immediately at face value. Besides, fat offers, including $2 million to play a the second Us Festival, couldn't persuade the Eagles to reconvene in the past.
If money didn't prompt the homecoming, what did?
"The stars lined up correctly," says guitarist Don Felder.
Friendship, maturity and timing lured back the all-star lineup of Henley, Felder, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh (all 46) and Glenn Frey, 45, who observes, "Any worthwhile relationship has to survive extremes."
Says Felder, "We were a victim of our own success. It was so over whelming. No one knew how to handle it. In the last few years, we've filled out from being young kids to being (pause) older kids."
Felder and Schmit never resisited reunion overtures. "This is wonderful," says Schmit, the last to join the Eagles. "I had just gotten a taste of what it was about and I watched it crumble...Since that last concert 14 years ago, I couldn't go anywhere without people asking me when we were getting back together again."
Sealing the deal "was easy once we worked out a few important personal details," Frey says. Such as? "Not getting a half-hearted commitment. A band is about mutual respect, patience, dedication, being supportive, having empathy. It's about being fastidious about your job, being on time, being in a good mood. It's a personal relationship, not a commitment you take lightly." "There won't be any drugs or alcohol on this tour," Henley says. "Not even beer. Certain fatal diseases have made all the extracurricular activity a thing of the past."
Notorious perfectionists acutely aware of the public's high expectations, the band bravely kicked off it's second coming with two high-profile, fan-packed tapings for an MTV special due in September. "We're under a super huge microscope, and doing our first show under TV cameras just doubled the magnification," Schmit says.
The shows earned raves, and they've been steadily rehearsing ever since, enduring the endless interruptions fo interviews, set designs, photo shoots, song selections. They feel ready, almost. "It'll never be perfect, but it will be damn great," Felder promises.
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From the LA Times by Robert Hilburn:
But would the five Eagles get along after all these years?
The test came last Dec. 6 when they all agreed to guest in a video being shot in Los Angeles to promote Tritt's version of "Take It Easy" from "Common Thread,"
Schmit, 46, knew the importance of the day, but he tried to downplay it in his mind.
"I went around for a long time after the breakup changing the station when Eagles songs came on because it was sad to think about that had happened." says the singer and co-writer of "I Can't Tell You Why."
"The (Tritt video shoot) was fun, but that's as far as it went. I said I am not going to start thinking what if. I am just going ahead with my plans for the summer.
"It really felt good right away," says the upbeat Schmit, who lives in Woodland Hills with his wife and their two children. "There is something about playing with a certain group of people that you can't replace... a connection that works."
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