Remember When Eagles Released Their Final Single Before a 14-Year Hiatus?

In 1980, Eagles released “Seven Bridges Road”. On their Eagles Live album, “Seven Bridges Road” is the final single the band released for 14 years, until 1994. That year, The Eagles returned with “Get Over It”. It’s a song that is on their live album, also out that year, appropriately called Hell Freezes Over.

When Eagles released “Seven Bridges Road”, there was already friction within the band. Eagles Live would be the group’s final album until Hell Freezes Over, also a live record.

Members of The Eagles wrote almost all of their music. In fact, “Seven Bridges Road” is the only song on Eagles Live that one of the members of Eagles did not write. “Seven Bridges Road” was instead written by Steve Young. Young first released “Seven Bridges Road” on his 1969 sophomore record, Rock Salt & Nails. It is also the title track of Young’s sophomore album.

“Seven Bridges Road” begins with “There are stars in the southern sky / Southward as you go / There is moonlight and moss in the trees / Down the Seven Bridges Road / Now I have loved you like a baby / Like some lonesome child / And I have loved you in a tame way / And I have loved you wild.“

Why Eagles Did Not Release More Music After “Seven Bridges Road”

There was already a lot of tension in Eagles in 1980. It’s why “Seven Bridges Road” is their final single for so many years. Specifically between Don Felder and Glenn Frey, after Frey reportedly committed Eagles to playing a benefit for the reelection of California senator Alan Cranston, a liberal. According to Felder’s book Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles. Frey knew he was opposed to any political affiliation.

Angered by that and other issues that had been brewing underneath the surface, Frey allegedly threatened Frey, saying, “I’m gonna kick your ass when we get off the stage.”

“Neither of us really wanted to be there that night. And for me, it was one gig too many,” Felder writes. “As the night progressed, we both grew angrier and began hissing at each other under our breath. The sound technicians feared the audience might hear our outbursts, so they lowered Glenn’s microphone until he had to sing. He approached me after every song to rant, rave, curse, and let me know how many songs remained before our fight.”

It was the fight that ended Eagles. They may have actually stayed apart if not for Travis Tritt. It was Tritt who convinced the group to get back together when he recorded a cover of their Common Thread: The Songs Of The Eagles. Released as a single, Tritt asked if The Eagles would join him for the video. They agreed, ultimately causing their reunion.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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