JD Souther, Songwriter Behind Eagles, Linda Ronstadt Hits, Dead at 78
John David “JD” Souther, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame known for co-penning hits with the Eagles, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, has died at the age of 78.
The singer-songwriter died peacefully at home in New Mexico, according to reps at Solters PR. A cause of death was not given.
Souther was born in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 2, 1945, and raised in Amarillo, Texas. After moving to Los Angeles, California, in the late Sixties, he formed a longtime partnership with the Eagles’ Glenn Frey. The duo briefly forming a band called Longbranch Pennywhistle that released a single eponymous album in 1970 for Jimmy Bowen’s Amos Records.
Throughout the Seventies, Souther collaborated on several songs for the Eagles, including “Best of My Love”, “James Dean”, “New Kid In Town” and “Doolin-Dalton”. He would go on to co-write “Heartache Tonight” with Frey, Bob Seger, and Don Henley, which the Eagles would record and release in 1979, earning the group its final track to top the Hot 100.
As a successful solo artist, 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. In 1976, he released a second solo album, Black Rose, which was produced by Peter Asher, and featured a duet with his then-girlfriend Linda Ronstadt, “If You Have Crying Eyes.” His two biggest solo hits included 1979 single “You’re Only Lonely,” which reached Number Seven on the Hot 100, and the 1981 “Her Town Too” duet with Taylor.
The prolific songwriter also penned “Run Like a Thief” for Bonnie Raitt’s 1975 album, Home Plate, and several songs for Ronstadt, including “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues.” Souther also recorded several duets with Ronstadt, among them “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Sometimes You Can’t Win” and “Hearts Against the Wind,” the latter was part of the 1980 film Urban Cowboy.
As an actor, Souther also appeared in television shows Thirtysomething, Nashville, and Purgatory as well as the films Postcards from the Edge, My Girl 2, and Deadline.
The multifaceted artist was set to embark on a tour this month with Karla Bonoff through the new year, which will be cancelled.
Upon his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, Souther was credited as “a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters.”
During an interview with PBS that aired in 2016, Souther said there is “a lot of timing involved in any kind of career in the arts” and called himself “fortunate.”
“If really given the choice, I’d go to the beach, I’d stay that extra two weeks in Aspen and ski, or just hanging on my farm with my dogs,” he said when looking back at his career. “I work because I love my work, but I don’t love it more than my life.”
When asked why there was a large gap between 1984’s Home by Dawn and If the World Was You in 2008, Souther replied, “I said, ‘I’m going to step off the hamster wheel for a while and just see what life is like when it’s not write, record, tour, write, record, tour, right, record, tour, promote.’ And I frankly had a pretty blissful … 20 years.”
Following his hiatus, the singer-songwriter would go on to release four more albums. Reflecting on his return, Souther added, “I fell back in love with the work again, which is always the key.”
