Life has certainly been good for Joe Walsh. The Kansas-born guitarist initially became an AOR superstar as a member of Cleveland’s James Gang, a riff-heavy power trio whose “Funk #49” remains an album rock staple. By 1971, Walsh was leading his own band, dubbed Barnstorm, with whom he unleashed another FM radio favorite in 1973’s “Rocky Mountain Way.” In 1976, he was recruited to replace departing guitarist Bernie Leadon in The Eagles. The addition of Walsh brought a harder edge to the band’s trademark country rock, helping forge a sound that propelled 1976’s Hotel California to massive worldwide success.
During the long period between Eagles albums that followed, Walsh resurrected his solo career with his 1978 Asylum debut, “But Seriously, Folks…” The set was the most successful solo release of the guitar hero’s long, illustrious career, earning RIAA platinum status thanks to another radio rock standard, the satirical top 20 pop hit, “Life’s Been Good.

In 1980, Walsh attempted to turn his rock stardom into political capital by running for President of the United States. With a platform consisting of free gas for everyone and the promise to make “Life’s Been Good” the new national anthem, the mock campaign more than achieved Walsh’s true goal – increasing young people’s awareness of the election. The following year, his second and final Asylum release, There Goes The Neighborhood, spawned still one more FM classic in the #1 Rock hit, “A Life of Illusion” (later featured during the opening credits of the blockbuster 2005 comedy, The 40-Year-Old Virgin).

Walsh carried on his solo career as The Eagles split up in 1980 and then reunited in 1994. One of rock’s all-time great guitarslingers, he continues to play on his own and alongside such diverse artists as Ringo Starr, Kenny Chesney, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and a reconstituted James Gang.

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