JD Souther, a singer-songwriter who wrote hits for the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, dies at 78

LOS ANGELES (AP) – John David “JD” Souther, a legendary songwriter and musician who helped shape the country-rock sound in Southern California in the 1970s with his collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, has died at age 78.

Souther, who collaborated on some of the Eagles' biggest hits such as “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Kid in Town” and “HeartTalk Tonight,” died Tuesday at his home in New Mexico. An announcement on his website.

He has also worked with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and many others and has had success as a solo artist. He was set to kick off a tour with Carla Bonoff in Phoenix on September 24, now cancelled.

When he was inducted into the Collectors Hall of Fame in 2013, Souther was described as “a major architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters”. He was also at the center of the social scene, his girlfriends including Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks, who recalled him in a 1982 interview with High Times magazine as “very, very, very masculine and very sweet and clever and wonderful, very Texas.”

Souther was born in Detroit and raised in Amarillo, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he met fellow Michigan native Glen Frey, a founding member and guitarist for the Eagles. The two began a long partnership, starting with a band called Longbranch Pennywhistle. Frey would credit Souther with introducing him to country music.

“Our first year together will always seem like yesterday to me,” Souther said in a statement after Frey died in 2016. Loss and sorrow. … Music and love are immortal.”

Souther was close to the Eagles, even appearing on the back cover of their 1973 album “Desperado,” with Souther and others re-enacting the capture of the legendary Dalton Gang. He described his beginnings with Frey at the popular West Hollywood music club The Troubadour as “the best study of songwriting I could imagine.”

“So many great songwriters have come — 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. “Now it seems impossible to imagine so much music in a year and a half, but this was my life and the Troubadour was our university.

“It's also where I met Linda Ronstadt and where Don Henley and Glenn Frey got together to form this little country rock band called the Eagles that 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-Furey Band with former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco's Richie Furey. A second solo effort in 1976, Black Rose, included a duet with Ronstadt, his one-time girlfriend, “If Your Eyes Are Crying.” Other duets recorded with him include “Captured 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 “Faithful Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ronstadt. He collaborated and sang with James Taylor on “Her Town Two”.

Among other artists he has worked as a singer are Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg and Roy Orbison.

He has appeared on television in “Thirtysomething,” “Nashville” and “Purgatory” and as an actor in the films “Postcards from the Edge,” “My Girl 2” and “Deadline.”