10 Insane Stories Behind Classic Albums

Going into the recording of Hotel California, Glenn Frey and Don Henley really had their backs against the wall. Considering that they had 3 solid hits off of their previous record One of These Nights, no one was willing to settle for anything less than a perfect album, which eventually started to happen once Hotel California was written. Just be careful of who's actually singing the songs though.

After remaining quiet for the past few records, Don Felder insisted on singing the track Victim of Love on the new record, which neither Henley nor Frey were particularly happy about. Though they did give Felder a chance to flex his vocal chops in the studio, they actually convinced manager Irving Azoff to take Felder out to dinner while the band cut the rest of the track with Henley singing lead.

It got even worse when Victim of Love became somewhat of a fan favorite during the tour cycle, with Felder having to take it on the chin every night and let Henley sing the song. This was just the beginning of things starting to boil over, with Felder and Frey later coming to blows after a show before dissolving the band at the start of the '80s. While the studio can leave behind a couple of bruised egos, this is still one of the more shady deals in rock history.