Hotel California (album)

Hotel California
Studio album by
the Eagles
ReleasedDecember 8, 1976 (1976-12-08)[1]
RecordedMarch[2] – October 1976
Studio
GenreRock
Length43:28
LabelAsylum
ProducerBill Szymczyk
Eagles chronology
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)
(1976)
Hotel California
(1976)
The Long Run
(1979)
Singles from Hotel California
  1. "New Kid in Town"
    Released: December 7, 1976[1]
  2. "Hotel California"
    Released: February 22, 1977[1]
  3. "Life in the Fast Lane"
    Released: May 3, 1977[1]

Hotel California is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Eagles, released on December 8, 1976, by Asylum Records. Recorded by the band and produced by Bill Szymczyk at the Criteria and Record Plant studios between March and October 1976, it was the band's first album with guitarist Joe Walsh, who had replaced founding member Bernie Leadon, and the last to feature founding bassist Randy Meisner. The album cover features a photograph of the Beverly Hills Hotel, taken by David Alexander.

Hotel California was an immediate critical and commercial success, topping the US Billboard 200 chart. At the 20th Grammy Awards, the title track won Record of the Year, and "New Kid in Town" won Best Arrangement for Voices. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year but lost to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977). Three singles were released from the album, with the title track and "New Kid in Town" topping the Billboard Hot 100 and "Life in the Fast Lane" reaching No. 11.

Hotel California is one of the best-selling albums of all time. It has been certified 26× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the US, and has sold over 32 million units worldwide, making it the band's second best-selling album after Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) (1976).[3] Ranked by various publications as one of the greatest albums of all time, it was placed at number 37 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003 and 2012, re-positioned to number 118 in the 2020 edition. A 40th anniversary special edition of Hotel California was released in November 2017. The band played the album in its entirety during the Hotel California 2020 Tour.

  1. ^ a b c d Kevin Fong. "Discography of Eagles". superseventies.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference sound on sound was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Black Jacket Symphony to re-create Eagles' "Hotel California"". Tuscaloosanews.com. October 27, 2018. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.