The Eagles Founding Member and Former Bassist Randy Meisner Dead at 77

The Eagles founding member, bassist and vocalist Randy Meisner has died due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 77. The news of Meisner’s death was shared on the Eagles’ social media Thursday evening (July 27).

“The Eagles are sad to report that founding member, bassist, and vocalist, Randy Meisner, passed away last night (July 26) in Los Angeles at age 77, due to complications from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD),” read a post on Facebook. “As the original bass player for the pioneering country-rock group, Poco, Randy was at the forefront of the musical revolution that began in Los Angeles, in the late 1960s.

“In 1971, Randy, along with Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Bernie Leadon, formed the Eagles and contributed to the band’s albums, Eagles, Desperado, On The Border, One of These Nights, and Hotel California,” the post continued. “He was inducted with the Eagles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.”

Prior to Poco, Meisner was bassist and vocalist with Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band.

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“Randy was an integral part of the Eagles and instrumental in the early success of the band. His vocal range was astonishing, as is evident on his signature ballad, ‘Take It to the Limit,’” said the Eagles.

Meisner was born on March 8, 1946, in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He grew up in a musical family, as his mother sang and his grandfather played violin and taught piano. His interest in playing music stemmed from watching Elvis Presley perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. He picked up the guitar shortly after and began taking lessons. He cited Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Mary Wells, the Temptations and Marvin Gaye as early inspirations.

“I heard Elvis Presley and Conway Twitty and that made me want to get an acoustic guitar,” he previously said. “At around twelve or thirteen I got an acoustic guitar and took some lessons. I played some PTA meetings out in the country. Jimmie Rodgers’ ‘Honeycomb’ was one of the first songs I learned.”

He joined several bands, including a group called the Deacons, then later the Thunderbirds. He and his guitar teacher started a band called the Dynamics. “We did a lot of Beatles and R&B songs. I think I was about seventeen,” he told Rock Cellar Magazine. “We played a Battle of the Bands in Denver. We did pretty good but we didn’t win anything.”

Meisner would go on to serve as bassist and vocalist with Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band as well as Poco, before forming the Eagles in 1971. He had a hand in writing and singing lead on “Take It to the Limit” as well as recorded on the albums Eagles, Desperado, On The Border, One of These Nights, and Hotel California. Other songs he wrote include “Try and Love Again,” “Take the Devil,” “Tryin’,” “Certain Kind of Fool,” and “Is it True?” He departed the Eagles in 1977.

“I was nervous about doing that song [‘Take It to the Limit’] live,” he said in the same interview. “I wouldn’t have spotlights out on me. Everyone had spotlights. I just didn’t want to be in the limelight. Maybe one song they’d put a little bit of light on me on ‘Take It To The Limit.’ But I liked to be on the side and play and do my parts. I was kind of shy, actually. I just wanted to do my job.”

Funeral arrangements for Meisner are pending.

(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)