Writers: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bob Seger, and J.D. Souther
Producer: Bill Szymczyk
Recorded: 1978-79 at Bayshore Recording Studio in Coconut Grove, Florida
Released: September 1979
| Players: | Don Henley — vocals, drums Glenn Frey — vocals, guitar, keyboards Don Felder — guitar, vocals Joe Walsh — guitar, vocals Timothy B. Schmit — bass, vocals |
| Album: | The Long Run (Asylum) |
The first single from the Eagles' The Long Run album, “Heartache Tonight” was the group's fifth Number One hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Don Henley and Glenn Frey were helped on the track by friends J.D. Souther and Bob Seger. Frey recalled, “Whenever Bob Seger was in L.A., he always used to come over and visit me, and he'd visit Don, too, and play us stuff he was working on — and we would do the same. I seem to remember that I had the verse thing going for 'Heartache Tonight,' and I was showing it to Seger, and we were jammin'…and then he blurted out the chorus. That's how 'Heartache' started. Then Bob disappeared and J.D., Don, and I finished that song up.”
Frey said that “Heartache Tonight” was, by design, somewhat lighter than much of the material on The Long Run: “No heavy lyrics. The song is more of a romp, and that's what it was intended to be.”
The Eagles had so much material for The Long Run — at least 18 songs, according to Frey — that they considered releasing a double album, but they ultimately decided against the idea.
The Long Run also went to Number One, spending nine weeks atop the Billboard 200. The album was certified seven-times platinum.
