The Eagles’ “Long Goodbye” tour continues as the veteran rock band continues its run at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
It’s not an inexpensive ticket. But another way to experience Eagles hits for a reasonable price is to catch Don Felder. The former Eagle guitarist, is delivering a number of familiar hits.
Unlike his ex-bandmates, Felder is also creating fresh material.
Felder’s “The Vault: 50 Years of Music” dropped in 2025. Felder’s fourth solo album is filled with newly recorded tunes originally demoed over the last five decades. The cuts span from 1974’s “Move On” to “I Like the Things You Do,” which was crafted in 2023.
Felder’s Toto pals, guitarist Steve Lukather, keyboardists David Paich and Greg Phillinganes and vocalist Joe Williams are among the luminaries who helped create “The Vault.”
Felder, 78, is still compelled to make new music.
“When you’re a musician you don’t stop writing or recording,” he said while calling from his Beverly Hills home. “I still want to do it.”
It’s not easy squeezing in new songs such as “Free at Last,” when Felder puts together a set list. The tune, which was inspired by meditation and mortality, is a catchy gem.
“At some point we’ll all be free of the physical and emotional scars from this life,” he said.
There are plenty of new Felder tunes but the guitar hero primarily opts for Eagles classics.
“I have fun with those songs,” he said. “Toward the end of the show, the last five or six songs, everyone is on their feet when I’m playing songs like ‘Heartache Tonight,’ ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ and ‘Hotel California.’ Wherever I play it’s the same reaction. The place will just be rocking by the end of the show.”
Felder, who will open for The Guess Who on Saturday at the Hard Rock, enabled the Eagles to morph from a middle of the road country-rock act to a group with muscle. His guitar prowess is all over many of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s greatest hits, such as “One of These Nights” and “Take It Easy.”
The Eagles catapulted to rock’s upper echelon after Felder was joined by his friend Joe Walsh in 1975 for a twin-guitar attack, which is part of the reason that the song “Hotel California” is one of the most popular rock tracks of all time.
“Joe and I played together in Joe Walsh and Friends so we already had chemistry before he came to the Eagles,” he said. “We would play the guitar parts for ‘Hotel California’ bar for bar. We were very comfortable playing with each other. We just knew when to play and when not to play. We had no problem alternating between being the support character and the lead character.”
Felder and Walsh put aside ego in order to create some of the finest guitar melodies and harmonies, while in a band that always had a reputation for being comprised of temperamental divas.
Felder had an acrimonious split with the Eagles.
After his departure from the group in 2001, Felder filed two lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract and breach of fiduciary duty. The case was settled out of court in 2007. Since then Felder published his entertaining and revealing biography, “Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles,” which hit shelves in 2007.
Despite the well chronicled issues, could Felder and the surviving members of the band ever overcome differences and reunite?
“I’ll never say never,” he said.
In the meantime Felder is focusing on his songs and touring.
“I’m very excited about where I’m at now,” he said.
It’s been a wild ride for Felder, who is marking his half-century in music with “The Vault.” However, it goes back further for Felder, who grew up in Gainesville.
While coming of age in Florida, Felder joined a band with Stephen Stills, learned to play the slide guitar from Duane Allman and gave Tom Petty music lessons.
“It’s been an incredible career,” Felder said. “The great thing is that it’s still going on.”
Dunham at Ocean
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham will perform Sunday at Ocean.
Dunham will push the envelope with his caustic and unpredictable dummies such as the curmudgeonly Walter, Achmed the Dead Terrorist and Jose Jalapeno on a Stick.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source breakingac.com ’
