Lead singer and drummer for The Eagles Don Henley reportedly filed a lawsuit on Friday to retrieve his handwritten song lyrics from the song “Hotel California.”
Henley contends the writings were stolen. He filed the lawsuit after a prosecutors dropped charges against three collectors who were allegedly planning to sell the documents.
“These 100 pages of personal lyric sheets belong to Mr. Henley and his family, and he has never authorized defendants or anyone else to peddle them for profit,” said Daniel Petrocelli, Henley’s attorney. (RELATED: The Eagles Takes Its Final Bow With Residency At The Las Vegas Sphere: REPORT)
The documents have remained with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, the lawsuit notes.
Don Henley Files Lawsuit Seeking Return of Personal ‘Hotel California’ Lyric Sheets
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Shawn Crowley, a lawyer representing one of the defendants, told The Associated Press that Henley “is desperate to rewrite history” and that they “look forward to litigating this case and bringing a lawsuit against Henley to hold him accountable for his repeated lies and misuse of the justice system.”
The defendants’ attorneys argued the singer gave the documents to a writer who was working on an Eagles biography that was not published. He allegedly later sold them to one of the defendants.
The judge who presided over the case said the lawyers used attorney-client privilege conceal information that could be “damaging” in an effort to manipulate prosecutors.
