Don Felder

Donald William Felder (born September 21, 1947) is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Eagles from 1974 to 2001. He is known for co-writing several of the band's songs, most notably "Hotel California". Felder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with Eagles and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016.

Felder was fired from Eagles in 2001 after which he filed lawsuits against his former bandmates alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract and breach of fiduciary duty. He published an autobiography detailing his tenure with Eagles, Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974–2001), in 2008.

Don Felder was born in Gainesville, Florida, on September 21, 1947. He was raised in a Southern Baptist family.

Felder was first attracted to music after watching Elvis Presley live on The Ed Sullivan Show. He acquired his first guitar when he was about ten years old, which he has stated he exchanged with a friend at the five-and-dime for a handful of cherry bombs. A self-taught musician, he was heavily influenced by rock and roll. At the age of 13 he started his first band, the Continentals in 1960, which also included Stephen Stills and Isaac Guillory.

Felder's family could not afford music lessons, so he taught himself to play guitar by ear, by listening to tape recordings that he played back at half-speed. He worked at a music store started by a Berklee graduate, who taught music theory and some notation to Felder during his employment there.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.