JD Souther, renowned for writing some of the biggest hits from the Southern California country-rock scene of the 1970s—including hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and James Taylor—passed away on Tuesday at his home in Sandia Park, New Mexico, east of Albuquerque. He was 78 years old. His death was confirmed on his website, although no cause was provided.
Emerging in the late 1960s, Souther was part of a group of musicians in Los Angeles who shared a passion for a peaceful, country-infused rock sound. They frequently performed at venues like the Troubadour, the famed West Hollywood nightclub, and lived in the same Hollywood Hills canyons.
Souther collaborated with many prominent artists. Although raised on jazz and classical music, he easily adapted to the country-rock genre with songs like “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ronstadt, “The Heart of the Matter” co-written with Don Henley and Mike Campbell, and “Her Town Too,” a duet with Taylor.
He played a pivotal role in the formation of the Eagles by encouraging Ronstadt, his girlfriend at the time, to hire Glenn Frey for her backup band. After Henley joined, Frey, along with two other members from Ronstadt’s group, formed the Eagles. Souther nearly became the fifth member of the band but chose to write for them instead.
A string of successful songs followed, many co-written with Henley and Frey, including “The Best of My Love,” “Victim of Love,” “Heartache Tonight,” and “New Kid in Town.” Reflecting on his success, he remarked in 2019, “There was definitely a period where people would say to me, ‘Doesn’t it piss you off that the Eagles have these big hits off your songs?’ I would usually start saying, ‘Would you like to see the checks?’”
In addition to his work with the Eagles, Souther was in a band with Frey called Longbranch Pennywhistle and later joined the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. He maintained a solo career, achieving success with “You’re Only Lonely,” the title track of his 1979 album, which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, “Heartache Tonight,” co-written with Henley, Frey, and Bob Seger, became the Eagles’ final No. 1 hit.
Afterward, Souther stepped back from music, feeling the Los Angeles scene was shifting away from his style. “I had done what I wanted to do musically,” he told Rolling Stone in 2012. “All the men in my family worked until they died, and I thought I’d take a few years off and build a great house and have a life.”
By the late 1980s, he ventured into acting, appearing as a piano player in Steven Spielberg’s 1989 film “Always” and as an environmental activist in several episodes of “Thirtysomething.” He returned to music with a jazzy style and released four studio albums and a live record since the late 1990s, with his last album, “Tenderness,” released in 2015. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
Souther had planned performances later this month with singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff in Folsom and Napa, California, along with solo concert dates booked into 2025. In recent years, he gained recognition among younger fans for his role on the television show “Nashville,” where he portrayed Watty White, a veteran music producer inspired by his own experiences in the industry. He was a recurring character throughout the series.
Born John David Souther on November 2, 1945, in Detroit, he moved with his family to Dallas and then to Amarillo, Texas, where he grew up. His father, John Souther, performed in a big band under the name Johnny Warren, while his mother, Loty (Finley) Souther, eventually protested the road life, leading them to Texas where they ran a music store.
The store exposed Souther to various musical styles while he helped stock records and sweep floors. He began playing the violin at age 8 and later took up clarinet, tenor saxophone, and drums. After a brief stint at Amarillo College, he left to pursue music with his first band, the Cinders. He moved to New York, then Florida, before settling in Los Angeles, where he met Ronstadt and Frey.
Souther married Alexandra Sliwin in 1969, but they divorced in 1972. He later dated Stevie Nicks and Judee Sill, who is said to have written “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” about him. His second marriage to Sarah Nicholson also ended in divorce. He is survived by two sisters, Susan Burt and Shari Smeaton.
In 2001, Souther moved to Nashville and later to rural New Mexico. He expressed contentment with his career, stating, “I like the fact that I don’t get made up before I go out of the house or check to be sure my hair looks great. I don’t want to be stopped in the grocery store and have somebody pay a bunch of attention to me. It’ll be nice if that happens, but it’s not what I want.”
