Eagles’ Lyric Theft Lawsuit: Glenn Horowitz Sues Don Henley for Wrongful Accusation
Don Henley, the Eagles frontman, and his manager, Irving Azoff, face a $10M legal dispute following a case filed by rare-books dealer Glenn Horowitz to the New York Supreme Court for malicious prosecution over allegedly stolen lyrics.
The Eagles co-founder previously sued Horowitz and two others in 2022 for allegedly conspiring to sell over 100 pages of stolen handwritten lyrics of the band’s hit album, “Hotel California.” However, prosecutors dropped the charges mid-trial in 2024 when they discovered Henley and his legal team withheld over 6,000 pages of email communications that would have cleared the defendant’s name from the start.
During the initial case, Caitlin Robin, Horowitz’s attorney, told The Independent, “They purposely withheld any disclosure because they knew it would exculpate plaintiff Glenn Horowitz and essentially destroy the fraudulent allegations they made about him.”
The controversy goes back to the 70s when Ed Sanders obtained the handwritten notes from Henley for the Eagle’s unpublished biography. Sanders allegedly sold the manuscripts to Horowitz and his co-accused, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski, who later tried to sell them at an auction. Henley maintains he never gave Ed Sanders the manuscripts, asserting the latter had no right to sell them.
Horowitz claims Henley and his manager knew he obtained the lyrics legally. However, the Eagles singer and his lawyers still filed a lawsuit against him, subsequently causing emotional distress and significant damage to his business and reputation.
Henley’s attorney, Dan Petrocelli, stated that his clients were the victims in the criminal trial against Horowitz, highlighting the dark nature of the memorabilia business. He told the media in an official statement, “Don Henley was a witness and a victim in a criminal trial brought by the Manhattan District Attorney after a formal indictment of Glenn Horowitz by a New York grand jury.”
This lawsuit adds a dramatic twist to an already messy legal battle. Both sides wait for their day in court.
