Three men have been charged criminally in Manhattan for allegedly having 100 pages of handwritten lyrics and notes for the Eagles’ hugely successful 1976 album ‘Hotel California’ that were stolen from vocalist Don Henley.
On Tuesday, Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi, and Edward Kosinski were charged with trying to resell goods valued at over $1 million while concealing their source from law authorities, auction houses, and potential buyers.
The words to songs like ‘Hotel California,’ ‘Life in the Fast Lane,’ and ‘New Kid in Town’ are among the lyrics included in the files, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The allegations of conspiracy and criminal possession were denied by Horowitz, 66, of Manhattan, Inciardi, 58 of Brooklyn, and Kosinski, 59 of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and Horowitz to hindering prosecution.
Their attorneys stated jointly that Bragg’s office ‘accuses innocent people of crimes when none have been committed and unjustly harms the reputations of renowned experts. We’ll fight back against these false accusations with vigour. These dudes are good guys.’
According to the prosecution, a potential Eagles biographer took the papers in the late 1970s and sold them to rare book trader Horowitz in 2005.
After that, according to Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski sought to sell the items at Christie’s and Sotheby’s or pressure Henley into purchasing them back.
Numerous emails concerning the alleged 7-and-a-half-year plot are included in the indictment, including Horowitz’s proposal that he claim Eagles vocalist Glenn Frey had handed him the stolen lyrics.
Horowitz allegedly stated in February 2017, 13 months after Frey’s passing, that Frey ‘is gone and naming him as (the) source would make this go away once and for all.’
No one has a right to benefit from ‘the brazen theft of unique elements of musical history,’ Eagles manager Irving Azoff said in a statement. ‘We look forward to the recovery of Don’s property.’
The song ‘Hotel California’ is known for abstract lyrics that Henley has said describe American excess, and a long guitar outro from Don Felder and Joe Walsh. It won the 1977 Grammy award for record of the year.
In 2014, Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics to ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ fetched a record $2 million at Sotheby’s.
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