Eagles ‘Hotel California’ Lyrics Stolen By Crime Ring

The original lyrics from Hotel California by the Eagles have been stolen. Three men have been indicted by prosecutors in New York, after allegedly trying to sell approximately 100 pages of Don Henley’s personal notes and lyrics for songs from the landmark album Hotel California.

Prosecutors became aware of a scheme to sell the allegedly stolen lyrics, after Henley filed police reports, with their investigations revealing that the men had tried to offload the manuscripts via famed auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's. The three men accused include Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz and Edward Kosinski. 

Court documents show that the men had claimed that they came into possession of the pages of lyrics and notes, which have an estimated worth of USD $1 million, via the late Eagles founding member Glen Frey.

The documents show that Horowitz allegedly sent an email revealing the plan to claim they received the pages from Frey as a way to avoid further questioning of the legitimacy of their ownership. An exert from the email, produced in court read  "[Frey] alas, is dead and identifying him as the source would make this go away once and for all".

The accused also reportedly tried to convince Henley to buy the pages back from them. Henley claims that the pages were stolen from him in the 1970s by an author who had been hired to write an Eagles biography. That author then sold them to Horowitz, who in turn sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.

The accused have each been charged with one count of fourth-degree conspiracy. Inciardi and Kosinski will also face charges for first-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Horowitz has also been charged with first-degree attempted criminal possession of stolen property and two counts of second-degree hindering prosecution.

Henley's manager, Irving Azoff shared the following statements with TMZ regarding the case.

"This action exposes the truth about music memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a façade of legitimacy. No one has the right to sell illegally obtained property or profit from the outright theft of irreplaceable pieces of musical history." "These handwritten lyrics are an integral part of the legacy Don Henley has created over the course of his 50-plus-year career. We look forward to the return of Don’s property, for him and his family to enjoy and preserve for posterity."