As first tipped here in July, the Eagles will begin a major-market arena tour May 8 in a city to be determined, manager Irving Azoff tells Billboard Bulletin. The act will play 40 dates through summer and 40 more next fall. “I’m working with the buildings right now, trying to get around everyone’s [basketball and hockey] schedules,” says Azoff. “The Eagles are an arena-only band now.”
The band toured mid-size and smaller cities in 2002, grossing nearly $35 million from 31 sellouts.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will issue a new album next fall on an independent label Azoff calls “Eagles Recording Co.” It will be the group’s first set of all new studio material since 1979’s “The Long Run,” which reached No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and spawned the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 pop hit “Heartache Tonight,” as well as the No. 8 entries “I Can’t Tell You Why” and “Long Run.”
The Eagles’ last release, the live, mainly acoustic “Hell Freezes Over,” was issued in 1994 by Geffen.