Opening Arguments Begin in Eagles Lyrics Case

Conflicting history over Don Henley's journals informs the case

The Eagles
Joe Walsh, Vince Gill and Don Henley of the Eagles enter on stage at Murrayfield on June 22, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns

Under most circumstances, if you heard news about a criminal case involving theft and Eagles, you’d probably guess that it had to do with poaching or something else involving an endangered species. In the case of an ongoing legal case in New York, however, the Eagles in question are better known for their songs about California, rivalry with Steely Dan and long string of 1970s hits.

As Ultimate Classic Rock’s Allison Rapp reports, three men are currently on trial on charges related to the removal of sections of Don Henley’s journals in the 1970s — which included pages on which Henley had written lyrics for several Eagles songs.

A Los Angeles Times article from August of this year offers even more details about the case. The Manhattan District Attorney has argued that a writer who was slated to write a biography of the Eagles in the 1970s, made off with the papers, and later sold them to rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz, who went on to sell them to Edward Kosinski and Craig Inciardi. According to the D.A.’s office, Kosinski and Inciardi then attempted to sell the pages back to Henley, which led to law enforcement becoming involved.

Horowitz, Kosinski and Inciardi have all been charged in the case. All three have pleaded not guilty.

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