JD Souther, Who Wrote Hits for the Eagles, Dies at 78

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7. Adding a link to another obit:

JD Souther, songwriter who helped define ’70s country-rock, dies at 78

He penned hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor and found a burst of solo success with “You’re Only Lonely.”


Singer-songwriter JD Souther performing in 2015. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

By Emily Langer
September 18, 2024 at 6:22 p.m. EDT

JD Souther, a songwriter who helped propel the country-rock movement of the 1970s with hits that he penned for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, and who found a burst of solo success with his song “You’re Only Lonely,” has died at 78. ... He died at his home in New Mexico, according to an announcement posted on his website and dated Sept. 17. Other details were not immediately available. He was set to begin a tour with singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff on Sept. 24.

Mr. Souther grew up in Amarillo, Tex., immersed in music. His father, a former big band singer, ran a music store. The younger Souther forged his own career in Los Angeles starting in the late 1960s, becoming what the Songwriters Hall of Fame described as a “principal architect of the Southern California sound” that emerged the following decade.

Shortly after his arrival on the West Coast, Mr. Souther befriended Glenn Frey, the guitarist who went on to co-found the Eagles. They roomed together in an apartment that Mr. Souther recalled as “pretty beat up,” just upstairs from Jackson Browne, another musician soon to emerge as a key influence on the country-rock scene.

Playing gigs at the Troubadour nightclub, Mr. Souther met Don Henley — who formed the Eagles with Frey in 1971 — as well as Ronstadt, Taylor and other young musicians starting out in their careers. In the years that followed, Mr. Souther gave them some of their best-known songs.

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By Emily Langer
Emily Langer is a reporter on The Washington Post’s obituaries desk. She writes about extraordinary lives in national and international affairs, science and the arts, sports, culture, and beyond. She previously worked for the Outlook and Local Living sections.follow on X @emilylangerWP