Glenn Frey Ronstadt needed a backup band for an upcoming tour, her manager John Boylan hired Frey because he needed someone who could play rhythm guitar and sing. Don Henley was approached by Frey to join Ronstadt. Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon were also hired, although as the backing band personnel changed through the tour, the four had only played once together at a gig at Disneyland. Frey and Henley decided to form a band together while on the tour, and they were joined by Meisner on bass and Leadon on guitar, banjo, steel guitar, mandolin and dobro, forming the Eagles, with
He Was a Friend of Mine episode of the reality television series "" when the gay pop duo Nemesis recorded it for the album "Rise Up". This version was produced by Barry Manilow and released June 26, 2007. In 2014, Merrymouth, a folk band led by Ocean Colour Scene singer/songwriter Simon Fowler, recorded the song on their second album Wenlock Hill. The lyrics were adapted by the band (Fowler/Dan Sealey/Adam Barry) to be about the killing of John Lennon. The Grateful Dead commonly performed a song called "He Was a Friend of Mine" during live concerts between 1966 and 1970, but that song was in fact