Eagles Founder Glenn Frey’s Death: A Look at Rheumatoid Arthritis, Colitis, and Pneumonia

Glenn Frey died at 67 on Jan. 18. (Photo: Corbis Images)

Glenn Frey, founder of the legendary rock band the Eagles, has died at 67 after battling several health problems.

According to the Eagles website, Frey, who was behind such hits as “Take It Easy” and “The Heat Is On,” “succumbed to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia” on Monday (Jan. 18).

Frey’s friend and collaborator Bob Seger told the Detroit Free Press that the singer/songwriter had suffered from colitis, an inflammation of the colon lining, most of his life, but his medical issues became worse recently and he was put into a medically induced coma by his doctors.

“First he caught one set of pneumonia, then he caught a very virulent set of pneumonia,” Seger said. “They were trying like hell to keep him alive. He’d been at Columbia University Medical Center since November. (Eagles manager) Irving (Azoff) pulled every ace out of the hole — he had the eight best specialists working on Glenn. About a month ago, they had to throw up their hands.”