Chart Rewind: In 1994, the Eagles’ ‘Hell Freezes Over’ Iced the Competition on the Billboard 200
Written by djfrosty on November 26, 2024
“It’s been very difficult, especially for me, to develop a sense of self-worth that is not attached to one’s career, because we’re taught we are what we do,” Don Henley told Billboard in 1994. “But it must be done at some point, and it generally comes later in life.”
On the Nov. 26, 1994-dated Billboard 200, the Eagles’ reunion album Hell Freezes Over sizzled in at No. 1 with 267,000 copies sold, according to Luminate.
The set, which led for two weeks, marking the Eagles’ fifth Billboard 200 No. 1, returned the band to the chart’s summit after a break of nearly 15 years. The group logged its first four leaders consecutively in 1975-79: One of These Nights, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, Hotel California and The Long Run. The best-of set is the top-selling album of all time, according to the RIAA, with 38 million certified units.
Trending on Billboard
Following The Long Run, the Eagles – then comprising Henley, fellow co-founder Glenn Frey, Don Felder, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh – parted (acrimoniously enough, famously, to eventually inspire the wry Hell Freezes Over album title). They combined for seven top 40-charting solo albums on the Billboard 200 in between The Long Run and Hell Freezes Over, including Henley’s 1989 top 10 The End of the Innocence. Frey tallied two Billboard Hot 100 top 10s in that span – the No. 2-peaking anthems “The Heat Is On” and “You Belong to the City,” both in 1985 – while Henley notched five top 10s, reaching a No. 3 best with “Dirty Laundry” in 1982.
The group’s reformation was sparked in part by the five members’ appearance in Travis Tritt’s video for his version of the Eagles’ 1972 classic “Take It Easy.” The remake, from 1993’s Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, hit No. 21 on Hot Country Songs in March 1994, after the set had run up a 13-week reign on Top Country Albums.
Hell Freezes Over introduced four new Eagles songs, mixed with 10 of the group’s ‘70s favorites and Henley’s The End of the Innocence single “New York Minute” performed live on MTV in April 1994. “For the record, we never broke up … we just took a 14-year vacation,” Frey winked during the set.
All four new tracks reached Billboard songs charts: first single “Get Over It,” with Henley on lead vocals, hit No. 4 on Mainstream Rock Airplay and No. 31 on the Hot 100; “Love Will Keep Us Alive” (Schmit) crowned Adult Contemporary for three weeks; “Learn To Be Still” (Henley) rose to No. 15 on AC; and “The Girl From Yesterday” (Frey) reached No. 58 on Hot Country Songs.
In Henley’s 1994 interview with Billboard, he predicted that the Eagles’ reunion would be temporary. “We’ve grown in different directions now, as people should,” he mused, “and so we’ll finish our obligations and go our separate ways again.” He added with a chuckle, “And frankly, I’m looking forward to that.”
Still, the band continued to add to its legacy, and catalog, including the top five AC hits “Hole in the World” in 2003 and “No More Cloudy Days” in 2005. In 2007, the Eagles released Long Road Out of Eden, their first album of all-new material since The Long Run. Led by the AC top 10 and top 25 Hot Country Songs hit “How Long,” Long Road Out of Eden launched as the Eagles’ sixth and most recent Billboard 200 No. 1, moving 711,000 copies in its first week, the best frame for an album by the band since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.
Following Frey’s passing in 2016, the Eagles have remained a touring force, with his son Deacon and longtime country hitmaker Vince Gill since having become staples of their lineup in concert. As announced today (Nov. 26), four more shows have been added to the Eagles’ residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, extending its run, which began Sept. 20, through April 12, 2025.
Dating to the Eagles’ 1994 reunion, they have earned $1.5 billion in concert grosses and sold 11.6 million tickets, according to Billboard Boxscore. Their The Long Goodbye Tour, which began in September 2023, has grossed $138.1 million and sold 486,000 tickets over its first 40 shows. Their Sphere residency has grossed $42.2 million and sold 131,000 tickets over its first eight shows.