Don Henley Sues to Reclaim Handwritten ‘Hotel California’ Lyric Sheets

Musician Don Henley arrives at court in New York City on Feb. 28, 2024. Seth Wenig/AP Photo

Eagles front man Don Henley has filed a lawsuit to reclaim ownership of his handwritten lyric sheets for the band’s hit 1976 album, “Hotel California.”

Prosecutors dropped a criminal case in March against three collectibles experts accused of scheming to sell the documents, which Mr. Henley maintains were stolen.

Mr. Henley’s new lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment to establish his ownership of approximately 100 pages of handwritten lyric sheets.

His attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, issued a statement to Rolling Stone magazine.

“Don Henley has filed suit today in a New York federal court for the return of property that was stolen from him—his private handwritten notes and lyrics to the iconic songs from the Hotel California album,” Mr. Petrocelli said. “These 100 pages of personal lyric sheets belong to Mr. Henley and his family, and he has never authorized defendants or anyone else to peddle them for profit.”

The Epoch Times contacted Mr. Petrocelli for comment.

The title track of the album, “Hotel California,” was a collaborative effort with songwriting credits going to Don Felder for the music and Don Henley and Glenn Frey for the lyrics.

The lyric sheets in question are currently being held by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In his lawsuit, Mr. Henley is seeking a court declaration that he is the rightful owner of the lyric sheets and that they should be returned to him.

The complaint details how Mr. Henley discovered his manuscripts were missing after a man named Edward Kosinski attempted to auction four lyric sheets in 2012, Variety reported. Mr. Kosinski claimed he obtained the pages from Ed Sanders, who was hired by the Eagles in 1979 to write a book about the band that never came to fruition.

According to the suit, Mr. Sanders kept Mr. Henley’s materials and sold five notepads in 2007 to book dealer Glenn Horowitz, who then sold them to Mr. Kosinski and Craig Inciardi in 2012. In the following years, Mr. Kosinski and Mr. Inciardi allegedly tried to ransom the pages back to Mr. Henley, who notified law enforcement.

“Henley now seeks the return of these lyric sheets from the DANY under New York law, which requires him to provide ’satisfactory proof of his title.' Because Kosinski and Inciardi have also claimed the title over Henley’s lyric sheets, the issue must be decided in a civil court with appropriate jurisdiction,” the lawsuit states.

“Henley, therefore, seeks a declaration from this Court that he is the lawful owner of his seized lyric sheets to provide the ’satisfactory proof of his title' that will facilitate the District Attorney’s return of his property.”