‘Eagles and Hotel California: 50 Years’ Book Due

Eagles and Hotel California: 50 Years, from veteran rock journalist and historian Sean Egan, comes in a slipcased volume.

Eagles’ 1976 classic album will be the subject of a new book, Eagles and Hotel California: 50 Years, from veteran rock journalist and historian Sean Egan. The title, coming September 8, 2026, “offers a definitive visual and narrative exploration of the record that captured the shift from ’60s idealism to ’70s disillusion – and turned that tension into one of the most enduring works in American music.”

The slipcased hardcover volume, via Motorbooks as part of its continuing Great Albums series, pairs more than 200 rare studio, stage, and on-the-road photography and band memorabilia with fresh reporting and analysis. It’s available to pre-order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.

The album, from Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, Joe Walsh, and Don Felder, and produced by Bill Szymczyk, was originally released on Dec. 8, 1976.

The book’s six chapters are “Taking Flight” (before Hotel California), “Checking In” (writing and recording the album), “Sounds so Familiar” (side one), “Where the Pretty People Play” (side two), “Life in the Fast Lane” (reception and promotion), and “Prisoners of Our Own Device” (after Hotel California).

Sample pages from Eagles and Hotel California: 50 Years.

From the publisher’s announcement: Egan traces how Eagles – idealistic young musicians navigating a jaded, hedonistic era – channeled the contradictions of their time into a long‑playing masterpiece. The book examines:

—The turbulent 1976–77 sessions at the Record Plant (Los Angeles) and Criteria Studios (Miami), where the band’s musical precision met the era’s excess.

—The album’s overarching theme – a concept‑album‑adjacent portrait of a culture sliding from innocence into self‑absorption – and the band’s intentional mirroring of that descent.

—The songs that became generational touchstones, including “New Kid in Town,” “Life in the Fast Lane,” and the title track with its now‑legendary guitar “duel” featuring Don Felder and Joe Walsh.

Photos of Joe Walsh and Don Felder from the book.

—Eagles’ unique duality: serious artists and radio mainstays; decadent rock stars with a conscience; not close friends, but remarkably cohesive collaborators.

—The album’s 50‑year legacy, and how its themes of ambition, illusion, and escape continue to resonate with new generations of listeners.

Sample pages from the book.

Author Egan has written or edited two dozen books, including works on the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Small Faces, the Clash, and James Bond. His 2002 book, Jimi Hendrix and the Making of Are You Experienced was nominated for an Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Egan is also the author of Bruce Springsteen & Born to Run: 50 Years.