Few guitarists have shaped rock music as profoundly as David Gilmour. As the sonic architect of Pink Floyd, Gilmour carved out a style that combined emotional depth with technical brilliance, making him one of the most respected musicians in history. Though often labeled as a progressive rock pioneer, Gilmour has always resisted genre classifications, and his musical tastes have always extended far beyond the boundaries of prog.
While he rarely comments on other artists, Gilmour has, on occasion, opened up about bands he admires. One of those bands happens to be the Eagles, whose classic lineup, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Don Felder, helped define the sound of 1970s rock.
“I’d Foolishly Been To An Eagles Show…”
David Gilmour’s fondness for the Eagles isn’t casual admiration, he’s a genuine fan. In fact, he once admitted that attending one of their concerts nearly cost him his voice.
“I deliberately tried to make [a show I did] as intimate as I could,” Gilmour told The Telegraph in 2002. “It felt fantastic, really liberating. But it’s much more frightening. The audience are right there in front of you and you can see the whites of their eyes. And my voice was really shot. I’d foolishly been to an Eagles show three or four nights before, and sung along to every song, and it did my throat in a bit.”
It’s an image that humanizes the famously reserved guitarist, the man behind “Comfortably Numb” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” losing himself in the harmonies of “Take It Easy” and “Desperado.”
“The Eagles Put Out Really Good Records In The ’70s”
Gilmour’s admiration for the band runs deeper than just fandom. Reflecting on the 1970s, a decade that saw both The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall dominate the charts, Gilmour praised the Eagles for their craftsmanship and timeless songwriting.
“Music in the ’70s was too safe,” he told TLV in 1995. “Punk was in the ’70s, the Sex Pistols, they were played pretty safe, you know. Lots of people say that it was all crap in the ’70s. Fleetwood Mac put out Rumours, and we put out Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. I don’t think people who criticize the ’70s really have looked at the great stuff that came out. The Eagles put out really good records in the ’70s.”
Coming from an artist whose own band released two of the most important albums of all time, that praise carries weight. Gilmour clearly sees the Eagles as kindred spirits, songwriters who, like Pink Floyd, married musicianship with melody and emotion in a way that defined an era.
Side By Side Among Rock’s Best Sellers
Fittingly, Pink Floyd and the Eagles now sit side by side on the list of the best-selling albums of all time. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) remains in fourth place, with over 45 million copies sold worldwide. Just behind it is the Eagles’ Greatest Hits (1971–1975), with more than 44 million sales.
In terms of overall career totals, Pink Floyd has sold over 250 million albums globally, while the Eagles have surpassed 200 million, a testament to the enduring appeal of both bands’ timeless music.
Gilmour’s Unexpected Collaborations With The Eagles’ Circle
Over the years, Gilmour’s path has occasionally crossed with members of the Eagles. In 2003, he appeared on Ringo Starr’s album Ringo Rama, performing a guitar solo on the track “Missouri Loves Company.” The bass on that same song was played by Timothy B. Schmit, the Eagles’ longtime bassist and backing vocalist.
A year later, Gilmour and Joe Walsh both performed at The Strat Pack concert, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster. Though the two guitar icons didn’t share the stage that night, their mutual connection to the instrument, and their shared legacy in classic rock, made the event symbolic.
Interestingly, both Pink Floyd and the Eagles experienced creative transformation after new guitarists joined their ranks. Just as Gilmour’s arrival in 1968 helped shape Pink Floyd’s defining sound, Joe Walsh’s entry into the Eagles in 1975 ushered in their most successful era, leading to the creation of Hotel California.
And there’s yet another link: in 1992, Don Henley duetted with Roger Waters, Gilmour’s longtime bandmate and creative foil, on “Watching TV” from Waters’ Amused to Death.
Nick Mason: “I Could Live Without Hearing ‘Hotel California’ Again”
While Gilmour remains an Eagles fan, his Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason has a more complicated relationship with their most famous hit.
“It’s a great song, let’s make that clear,” Mason told NME in 2020. “I’ve actually recorded it for someone, this terrific tribute band called The Illegal Eagles. We recorded it for a friend’s party. But it was so popular when we were touring America that every car we got into, every radio station was playing it on repeat. Because we were in the car quite often for some hours, it was one of those things where you thought: ‘I really could live without hearing that song again.’”
Still, even Mason’s weary familiarity with “Hotel California” speaks to the song’s omnipresence, proof of the Eagles’ massive cultural footprint.
The Mutual Respect Of Masters
For David Gilmour, the Eagles represent a golden standard of songcraft, music that blended emotional truth with studio perfection. His admiration highlights how great artists often recognize greatness in their peers, even when they inhabit very different corners of the rock spectrum.
Pink Floyd may have explored the outer reaches of sonic experimentation, while the Eagles refined the art of the radio-perfect rock song, but both spoke to the human condition with honesty and soul.
And for Gilmour, that’s what makes their music endure.
“The Eagles put out really good records in the ’70s,” Gilmour said. “People forget how much great music came from that time.”
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