Timothy B. Schmit remembers Glenn Frey in a conversation with Melissa Etheridge

Glenn Frey passed away in January, but his impact and influence are still felt across music, especially by the former members of the Eagles. On Tuesday’s episode of Melissa’s Basement, Eagles bassist and vocalist Timothy B. Schmit, one of Frey’s closest friends, opened up to Melissa Etheridge and shared his memories of the legendary frontman.

“Glenn had some health issues, but he seemed to have them for the most part under control,” Schmit recalled. “And then he started to tailspin, and we had to cancel some things like the Kennedy (Center) Honors. We had to postpone that until he got better. He just didn’t get better.”

Schmit said that this year has been a rough one for him and everyone who was close to Frey, as they’re still struggling to come to grips with his passing.

“It is still a shock. It’s hard for me to believe,” Schmit told her. “I don’t think about it every day now, but I did for a long time and I would always just shake my head in disbelief, really, that someone who was so charismatic and such a large personality and such a big part of my life and a big influence on my life and so many other people, that he just isn’t here anymore. We’re all still processing that.”

In March, the Eagles performed a special tribute to Frey and noted that it would be the band’s final farewell. In this intimate conversation with Melissa, Schmit didn’t completely rule out the possibility of a reunion nour, but he insisted that the band members would not call themselves the Eagles due to Frey’s absence.

“I would guess that it will be talked about at some point, but I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up,” he said. “I’ve said this before publicly: if anything happened, if we did get together on some level and made some sort of show, I would be uncomfortable calling it the Eagles. It might have to be called something else.”

Schmit likened the situation to the breakup of the Temptations, which saw the spawning of multiple groups of “new” Temptations. Schmit says he wants to avoid going through something like that.

“To me, Glenn was an essential part of the Eagles,” Schmit said. “I have no interest in becoming part of like ‘the new Temptations,’ which had nothing to do with so many Temptations way back. So we’ll see what happens. I’m sure if we talk about it all that stuff will be ironed out, but there are no plans at the moment.”

Throughout their wide-ranging interview, Schmit and Etheridge also performed snippets of Greenback Dollar by Kingston Trio, Party Doll by Buddy Knox, I Can’t Tell You Why by the Eagles and the full version of Schmit’s Red Dirt Road.

Melissa’s Basement hosted by Melissa Etheridge featuring Timothy B. Schmit premieres Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. ET on VOLUME (Ch. 106). 

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