Bob Seger Remembers Longtime Friend Glenn Frey: 'He Was the Leader of the Eagles ... Never Doubt That for a Minute'

Among the heartbroken fans reeling from the news of Glenn Frey’s death is longtime friend and fellow musician Bob Seger.

“I knew him for 50 years,” an emotional Seger told Billboard. “He was a great kid. I always kind of thought of him as my baby brother, a little bit. He was f—ing brilliant. He was a joy to be around. I always looked forward to seeing him. It was always memorable. He had an amazing sense of humor and was just smart, whip-smart.”

The two Detroit natives met during the 1960s when they were both working the local music scene.

“He had a drive, an imagination and a talent that was just titanic,” said Seger. “He loved music. He loved soul music. He loved Marvin Gaye. He loved Al Green. He loved Otis Redding. I remember listening to the Jimi Hendrix Experience up in his bedroom in his mom’s house, and we looked at each other and I said, ‘Glenn, we’re out of a job! This guy is so f—in’ good!’ and we laughed our asses off about it.”

Seger, who co-wrote the Eagles’ 1979 smash “Heartache Tonight,” also credited Frey with being the true leader of the iconic band.

“Those chords you hear on ‘The Last Resort’ and on ‘Desperado,’ that’s him. He wrote those chords,” Seger said of the Eagles’ guitarist’s skills on the piano – adding that he was classically trained from a young age.

“And make no mistake about it: He was the leader of the Eagles. He was the band leader. Never doubt that for a minute, and they’ll all tell you that it’s true. He used to tell me that, ‘Every single track’s gotta be good. Every single track. We don’t release an album ’til it’s good.'”

Seger added, “Ask Henley, ask any of them: Glenn was the leader of the Eagles,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “Throughout the Eagles’ career, they had a nickname for him. He was the Lone Arranger.”

The longtime friends last saw each other when the Eagles played a show in Detroit on July 24. In November, Henley told Seger that Frey had been hospitalized in New York.

“He was in a coma, and he’d come out, but then he couldn’t breathe. They d put him back into the coma,” Seger said.

“They were trying like hell to keep him alive. [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.”

Seger says one thing remained a constant with Frey – his love for his fans.

“Every time I saw him in the last 10, 11 years, he was so grateful to the fans,” he told Billboard. “The first thing he’d say to me – normally he’d start with a joke or something – but then he’d say to me, ‘Isn’t it amazing, Bob, we’re still doing this at our age? I am so grateful that these fans keep coming out.’ And he meant it, every word. He was definitely sincere.”

As Seger told the Free Press, “He loved the band. He loved the fact he could keep doing this. And he kept doing this until six months before he died.”