Glenn Frey, the Eagles founder who died Monday at age 67, had been hospitalized since November, Frey’s friend and former musical mentor told the Detroit Free Press.
According to Seger, who took Detroit native Frey under his wing early in Frey’s career, the Eagles singer and guitarist was induced into a coma by his doctors in New York after his condition worsened in the fall.
Seger said that Frey suffered from colitis, which contributed to his death, for most of his life, but kept the illness under control by working out in his later years. However, the musician suffered health setbacks in his final months. Although every effort was made to keep Frey alive, Seger said, the writing was on the wall “about a month ago.”
“First he caught one set of pneumonia, then he caught a very virulent set of pneumonia,” Seger said. “They were trying like hell to keep him alive. He’d been at Columbia University Medical Center since November. (Eagles manager) Irving (Azoff) pulled every ace out of the hole — he had the eight best specialists working on Glenn. About a month ago, they had to throw up their hands.”
“He was a joy to be around,” Seger added. “He had a fantastic sense of humor. He was whip smart, just brilliant, even at 18 years old when I met him.”
Azoff told TheWrap on Monday that the medications Frey had been taking contributed to his death.
Frey died from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia, according to the band’s website. Azoff said the latter two were caused by medications that he was taking for the inflammatory disorder.
“The colitis and pneumonia were side effects from all the meds,” he told TheWrap. “He died from complications of ulcer and colitis after being treated with drugs for his rheumatoid arthritis which he had for over 15 years.
“One day his knees would hurt, his hands hurt,” Azoff added, noting that the illness “moves from joint to joint.”
“Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia,” the group said in an update on the Eagles’ official website on Monday.