Eagles co-founder Don Henley recounted the cocaine-fueled night when he was busted with a 16-year-old prostitute at his Los Angeles home — calling it a “regret” he still lives with more than four decades later as he took the stand in Manhattan court Monday.
Henley, 76, was asked about his 1980 arrest as he testified in the criminal trial surrounding a scheme involving allegedly stolen handwritten draft lyrics of “Hotel California” — saying the rock band’s breakup that fall made him depressed, prompting him to call a “madam” to provide him with “some company.”
“I wanted to forget what was going on. I wanted to escape the depression I was in,” Henley said from the stand in Manhattan Supreme Court when prosecutors asked about his criminal history.
“So, I made a mistake – I called [a] madam and told her I wanted some company. And a few hours later, a young woman arrived at my home.”
Dressed in a sharp black suit, white shirt and black tie the musician told the court about the Nov. 20, 1980, night when he invited roadies to his home to break the news of the band’s breakup, which at that point was known only by the Eagles’ inner circle.
Once the groupies left his home, Henley said a young woman — who he believed to be “20-21-years-old” — arrived and the two shared intimate details about themselves, including him telling her about the Eagles’ split, he said.
The pair also shared cocaine, which Henley speaking in a raspy, low tone, admitted that he used “intermittently” at the time.
“We began to talk. We had a little bit of wine. She asked me if I had any cocaine; I said I did. We did some of that,” he told the court.
Henley testified that he went to bed with the girl, but said that they didn’t have sex. When he got up in the morning, he heard a “crash” from the bedroom, and called 911 when he realized she was having a seizure.
The fire department arrived and told him that they either had to take her or she could stay in his care, he said on the stand.
When the girl woke up later in the day, he told her to call for someone to pick her up and when her ride arrived, police were at his door and arrested him.
Henley was asked by Assistant District Attorney Aaron Ginandes whether he had found the “escape” he said he’d been seeking — and the rocker admitted he made a “poor decision” he continues to live with.
“Apparently not. I wanted to forget about everything that was happening with the band,” Henley said. “I made a poor decision which I regret to this day. I’ve had to live with it for 44 years. I’m still living with it today in this courtroom.”
Henley pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 1981.
The Eagles drummer and singer’s testimony came during the ongoing trial of rare-books dealer Glenn Horowitz, ex-Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinki, who are accused of scheming to sell original documents from when the band worked on their hit 1976 album.
Henley accused Ed Sanders, the writer who wrote a biography about the band, of “stealing” the lyrics to their hit “Hotel California” before selling them off to rare collectible sellers in New York City.
Sanders allegedly sold Henley’s notepads to Horowitz for $50,000 in 2005 — before the dealer passed off the collection to Inciardi and Kosinki in 2012, according to prosecutors.
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The three face charges of conspiracy to possess stolen property and various other offenses at the non-jury trial.
Prosecutors allege that the trio conspired to sell the handwritten “Hotel California” lyrics that vanished from Henley’s Malibu barn along with at least 15 notepads and 100 other pages of lyrics.
Henley testified that he agreed to purchase the allegedly stolen four-lyric pages of “Hotel California” from Kosinksi’s auction on his website for $8,500 in May 2012 — in what he called a “bitter pill to swallow” — because he thought it was the end of it.
When the lyric sheets from “Life in the Fast Lane” popped up at a Sotheby’s auction, Henley was offered again to buy back the materials for $12,000 — but he refused.
“I did not [buy them],” Henley explained when asked why he didn’t just purchase his lyrics again. “Because I was already extorted once and I wasn’t going to do it again.”