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Randy Meisner Death Cause: Co-Founder Of The Eagles Died At 77
He was a founding member of the Eagles who added high harmonies to such favorites as ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘The Best of My Love’ and stepped out front for the waltz-time ballad ‘Take It to the Limit,’ has died, the band said Thursday.
The Eagles released a statement on Meisner’s passing on Wednesday night in Los Angeles due to complications from chronic obstructive lung disease. He was 77.
The bassist had suffered from a number of illnesses in recent years, and in 2016, his wife, Lana Rae Meisner, inadvertently shot and killed herself.
According to court documents and remarks made during a 2015 hearing in which a judge ordered Randy Meisner to get continuous medical care, Meisner had been identified as having bipolar disorder and serious alcohol problems.
The baby-faced Meisner joined Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Bernie Leadon in the early 1970s to establish a classic Los Angeles band and one of the most well-known groups in history. Former bandmate Don Felder referred to him as “the sweetest man in the music business.”
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The Eagles released a statement that read, “Randy was an integral part of the Eagles and instrumental in the early success of the band.”
“Take It to the Limit,” his hallmark song, showcases his incredible vocal range.
Meisner, a bashful Nebraskan caught between celebrity and family life, had been sick and homesick during the ‘Hotel California’ tour (his first marriage was dissolving) and was reluctant to be in the spotlight for ‘Take It to the Limit,’ a showcase for his nasal tenor.
During a performance in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the summer of 1977, Meisner’s objections so incensed Frey that the two engaged in an argument backstage and Meisner quickly fled. Timothy B. Schmit, who succeeded him, continued with the band for decades, along with Henley, Walsh, and Frey, who passed away in 2016.
Meisner never achieved the same level of fame as the Eagles as a solo artist, but he did have singles with “Hearts On Fire” and “Deep Inside My Heart” and contributed to albums by Walsh, James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, and other artists.
Even though Meisner had played on all but one of the Eagles’ earlier studio recordings, they resumed touring in 1994 after a 14-year sabbatical. He did perform “Take It Easy” and “Hotel California” with the Beatles in 1998 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He spent ten years performing with the World Classic Rockers, a traveling band that featured Donovan, Spencer Davis, and Denny Laine at various points.
Meisner was married twice, the first time when he was still in his teens, and had three kids Dana Scott Meisner born in November 1963 and twins Heather Leigh and Eric Shane Meisner, born in May 1970 with his first wife Jennifer Lee Barton. He later married his girlfriend of twelve years, Lana Rae, in November 1996. The marriage lasted until her death in 2016
The bassist had endured numerous afflictions in recent years and personal tragedy in 2016 when his wife, Lana Rae Meisner, accidentally shot herself and died