In Memoriam: J.D. Souther

Singer, songwriter, and actor J.D. Souther died on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. A cause of death was not given, however, his representatives stated that he died peacefully at home. He was 78 years old.

He wrote some of the Eagles’ big hits like “New Kid in Town” and “Best of My Love,” and was a solo artist with his own Top 10 hit, “You’re Only Lonely.”

Souther was born on November 2, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan, and he grew up in Amarillo, Texas. His first solo album was 1972’s John David Souther, then in ’76 he released Black Rose, in ’79 he put out You’re Only Lonely, and in ’84 he dropped the album Home by Dawn. Some of his solo successes were for the songs “How Long” and “Her Town Too,” which was a duet with James Taylor.

Some of the other songs Souther co-wrote for the Eagles included “Heartache Tonight,” “You Never Cry Like a Lover,” “Victim of Love,” “Teenage Jail,” “James Dean,” and “Last Good Time in Town.”

He was in a short-lived band with Glenn Frey called Longbranch Pennywhistle, and they had one album in 1969. He joined Chris Hillman and Richie Furay for the supergroup Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, which had two albums in the mid-1970s.

Souther co-wrote Don Henley’s song “The Heart of the Matter” as well as some of Henley’s other solo tracks. He worked with Linda Ronstadt on songs like “Prisoner in Disguise” and “Faithless Love,” and he wrote songs for Bonnie Raitt, George Strait, and the Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks).

As an actor, he was in Thirtysomething, Postcards from the Edge, My Girl 2, Purgatory, Deadline, and Nashville.

After a long break away from recording, he returned to music in 2008 with the jazz ensemble album If the World Was You, followed by Natural History in 2011, and Tenderness in 2015. He was still singing on stage, and was scheduled to perform in joint concerts with Karla Bonoff.

Souther was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.