NEW YORK: Guitarist Glenn Frey, who helped make The Eagles one of the most successful acts in US rock history with hits such as "Hotel California," died Monday. He was 67.
"It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our comrade, Eagles founder Glenn Frey, in New York City," the Grammy Award-winning band wrote on its website.
Frey died of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, The Eagles said.
"We are all in a state of shock, disbelief and profound sorrow," fellow Eagle Don Henley said in a statement.
"He was the spark plug, the man with the plan. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a work ethic that wouldn't quit."
The Eagles, fronted by Frey and drummer-vocalist Henley, dominated the American rock charts throughout the 1970s with hits including "Take It Easy," "One of These Nights" and "Hotel California" -- songs that endure as cover-band classics to this day.
The Eagles pioneered the West Coast sound of laid-back, country-tinged rock that dominated early 1970s American pop and saw a changing cast of core members throughout the decades.
The Eagles' 1975 greatest hits collection has sold more than 29 million copies in the United States, more than any album except Michael Jackson's "Thriller," according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
The Eagles had been due in December to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center Lifetime Artistic Achievement award but the band said it would postpone its appearance by a year due to Frey's health.
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