Don Henley has met countless fellow rock stars throughout his life, thanks to his role in the Eagles. But there is still one person, long deceased, who he would like to meet, crediting him with having one of the largest impacts in music.
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He's talking about classical musician Frédéric Chopin. The Polish composer lived in the early 1800s, but he had a profound impact on music for generations to come.
"I'd like to meet Chopin and tell him how awesome his stuff is," Henley tells Debbie Does Music. "He was a rock and roll star in his time. He was the dude. He was extraordinary."
Another influential musician Henley would also like to meet also passed away a long, long time ago. It also happens to be the only member of the Beatles he never encountered in person.
"I'd like to have dinner with John Lennon," Henley reveals. "Because he's the only one of them I've never met. I met the other three, had lunch with George [Harrison], and I know Ringo [Starr] and Paul [McCartney] now, but I never met John. I met his son, Julian."
The Eagles Aren't The Beatles
It's interesting that Henley picked Lennon as someone he would want to meet, since he has often said the group is in a league of their own. In a separate interview, Henley revealed why he immediately shut down any comparison between the two groups.
"I've heard that comparison," Henley tells Far Out magazine. "But I don't think we're in that league. Good Lord, no. People do relate to those songs, though."
Glenn Frey, one of the founding members of the Eagles along with Henley, passed away in 2016. He did acknowledge that there might be some comparison between the two, with their shared longevity.
"While the band did break up in 1980, our music continued without us," he said, "It was becoming increasingly apparent to me that, no matter where I went or what I did, for the rest of my life, I would always be an Eagle."
Henley will always be a fan of the Beatles, and their music. Still, he doesn't list the iconic band as one of his own group's biggest influences. Instead, he says that distinction goes to The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Poco.
