Musician Glenn Frey, co-founder of the Eagles, named the six albums that had the greatest influence on him in a 2012 interview with the Express, given while he was promoting his covers record After Hours. The list reflects the broad musical palette he drew on throughout his career, spanning 1960s pop innovation, soul, R&B and lounge-jazz standards, and helps explain how the Eagles' polished West Coast rock sound came together.

His choices were The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, praised for its sophisticated production; The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which he credited with teaching him not to fear "unfettered writing"; Linda Ronstadt's What's New, whose Nelson Riddle arrangements he called his "benchmark"; Aretha Franklin's Very Best Of, tied to childhood memories of Detroit gospel radio; and Otis Redding's Live in Europe, admired for its raw energy. A sixth album was referenced but cut off in the source text.