The Eagles are one of the most successful bands of all time, but they once said they were wary of their music being too widely adored. The band has sold millions of records, won Grammys, and charted extremely well. Still, they wanted to see themselves as underdogs. They shared why they thought it was a bad thing to be too widely admired by the general public.

The Eagles wanted to remain ‘underdogs’ in the music industry

In the 1970s, The Eagles rapidly rose to success; their debut album had three songs chart in the Top 40. While this is the dream of most artists, the band did not want to be overly accessible. They looked down on groups that captured wide public adoration.

“Mass appeal is definitely suspect,” Glenn Frey told Rolling Stone in 1975. “Just look at our Grammy winners, Stevie Wonder excluded. Sometimes all that mass appeal means is that you simplified your equation down to the lowest common denominator. It’s a great temptation to think, ‘Well, f*** it, they’ll buy this. No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the mass public.’”

He said he agreed with some of the views of cultural critic H.L. Mencken, whose beliefs have been described as elitist. His bandmate, Don Henley, however, pushed back against some of what Frey was saying.

“It’s not a sin to be in the Top 40,” Henley said. “Look at Paul Simon and Joni [Mitchell]. They sell millions of records.”

Still, Frey wanted no part of this type of creation. He wanted his music to mean something to him.

“That must be weird s***, to sell a bunch of records and make a bunch of money off something that didn’t mean a f***in’ thing,” he said. “I don’t ever want to face that.”

The Eagles were wary of success in the music industry

The band said that, in some ways, success got in the way of artistry.

“It seems to take more time and effort every year to forget the whole trip of touring and recording and get loose enough so that the creative juices flow naturally,” said singer and guitarist Bernie Leadon.

They wrote a number of songs about the disillusionment that comes with success, such as “After the Thrill is Gone.” Henley’s original title was “Here’s Another Hidden Commentary on the Music Business Disguised as a Love Song.”

In their early years as musicians, they could be as creative as they wanted. Success meant they had to treat their music as a real profession.

“It’s a f***ing business. An occupation. It’s a profession,” said Henley. “And it’s f***in’ hard. I’m sure nine-to-five is just as trying, but their one advantage is that they can leave it at the office. This is a 24-hour-a-day trip. It’s like cramming 60 years into 28. Or, as Joe Walsh says so brilliantly, ‘You burn the candle at both ends/Twice the light in half the time.’ I don’t know, at least we’re doing what we want to be doing.”

They still felt confident in themselves

While they felt wary of success, they were still proud to have achieved it.

“I’m beginning to feel kind of proud that we’ve gone through three albums,” Henley said. “I’m beginning to feel like a trooper, like we’ve finally got a place in the big rock pile, as it were.”

He also felt confident in their ability to consistently find a wide audience for their albums.

“The important question now, though, is will we make a better album than the last one,” he said. “Knowing full well that, whatever we do, it’ll be gold in three or four weeks.”