Timothy B. Schmit Looks Ahead to First Post-Glenn Frey Eagles Concert: ‘Life Goes On’
The Eagles' decision to perform two shows without founding singer and guitarist Glenn Frey raised many eyebrows, but bassist Timothy B. Schmit doesn't have a problem with it. In a new interview, he likened it to the band's reunion in 1994.
"Don [Henley] also said we would never reform after we broke up the first time," Schmit told Cleveland's Plain Dealer. "Then we went on to play for 21 more years."
For Schmit, enough time has passed since Frey's death in January 2016, so it's only natural they look to move on without him. "As time goes by, it sinks in more and more, and it becomes a little more settled," he continued. "It's a tragedy, but it just was and is. Life goes on, and it's been long enough now that we can sort of reorganize."
After the surviving members of the Eagles played "Take It Easy" with Jackson Browne at the Grammys, Henley called it "the final farewell," adding, "I don’t think you’ll see us performing again." But by September, he posited the idea of bringing Frey's son Deacon into the mix, only to restate in November that they had planned to stay broken up. “I don’t see how we could go out and play without the guy who started the band," he said. “It would just seem like greed or something. It would seem like a desperate thing.”
But come July, the Eagles will take part in the inaugural Classic West and East, a pair of two-day festivals in Los Angeles and New York that will also include Fleetwood Mac, Journey, the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. But the question of who will stand in for Frey remains unknown, and Schmit thwarted the Plain Dealer writer's attempt to get a scoop.
"I can't tell you," Schmit said. "I'm sworn to secrecy."
Eagles Albums Ranked Worst to Best