LOS ANGELES — John David “JD” Souther, a prolific songwriter and musician who helped shape the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California in the 1970s with his collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, has died at the age of 78.
Souther, who worked on some of the Eagles’ biggest hits, including “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Kid in Town” and “Heartache Tonight,” died Tuesday at his home in New Mexico, according to an announcement on his website.
He also worked with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and many more, and found success as a solo artist. He was set to begin a tour with Karla Bonoff in Phoenix on September 24, which has now been canceled.
When he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, Souther was described as “one of the foremost architects of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters.”
Souther was born in Detroit and grew up in Amarillo, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he met Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist of the Eagles. The two began a long-term collaboration, starting with a band called Longbranch Pennywhistle.
“Our first year together will always seem like yesterday to me,” Souther said in a statement after Frey died in 2016. “His astonishing capacity for the big joke and that brilliant groove that lived inside him are with me, even now, in this loss and grief. … The music and the love are indestructible.”
Souther described his start with Frey at The Troubadadour, the popular West Hollywood music club, as “the greatest study in songwriting I could imagine.”
“So many great songwriters came through — Laura Nyro, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Newman, Elton John, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, Carole King, Rick Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Waylon Jennings, Tim Buckley, Gordon Lightfoot, Taj Mahal and more,” he said in a statement on his website. “It seems impossible now to imagine so much music in a year and a half, but that was my life and the Troubadour was our university.
“It’s also where I met Linda Ronstadt and where Don Henley and Glenn Frey met to form a little country-rock band called the Eagles, which would go on to make music history,” Souther wrote.
On his own, Souther recorded his self-titled debut in 1972 before forming The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco’s Richie Furay. A second solo effort in 1976, Black Rose, featured a duet with Ronstadt, his former girlfriend, “If You Have Crying Eyes.” Other duets he recorded with her include “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Sometimes You Can’t Win” and “Hearts Against the Wind,” the latter of which was featured in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy.
His biggest hit as a solo artist was “You’re Only Lonely”, from the 1979 album of the same name.
Other songs he wrote include “Run Like a Thief,” for Bonnie Raitt, and “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ronstadt. He collaborated with James Taylor on “Her Town Too.”
Artists he worked with as a singer included Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg and Roy Orbison.
He appeared as an actor on television in “thirtysomething”, “Nashville” and “Purgatory” and in the films “Postcards from the Edge”, “My Girl 2” and “Deadline”.