Music guru says Eagles may have done more for country than rock n' roll

While many place The Eagles as the greatest of all time when speaking about rock-n-roll, a former broadcaster says the band did more for country music than anything.

Remembering the late Glenn Frey, who died Monday after he succumbed to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, music guru Doug Pringle said the work Frey did with The Eagles essentially paved the road for modern-day country music.

“Most people put them in a rock field because they were the leaders of the country’s rock movement, but the biggest impact the Eagles had with Glenn Frey are on today’s country music,” Pringle said. “Today’s country music is built on the sound of the Eagles.”

Call it being in the right time at the right place, Pringle said the Eagles hit the rock scene at a time when music was incredibly important, not just popular.

“Music was the single-most important cultural-driving force during that time … Right now I can’t see anyone out there that will have a fraction of the influence that (Don) Henley and Frey had on a generation,” Pringle said drawing comparisons to John Lennon and Bob Dylan.

Inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the Eagles continue to hold the top spot for rock album sales in North America.

“The biggest-selling album of all time in North America is the Eagles’ Greatest Hits,” Pringle said. “Think of all the amazing albums that have ever been released, and that album has outsold them and ‘Hotel California’ isn’t that far behind.”