Bob Seger Pens a Song to Honor Glenn Frey on the Anniversary of His Death

The Eagles singer died in January 2016 at 67.

ByABC News
January 18, 2017, 5:15 PM

— -- Today marks the anniversary of Glenn Frey's death, and in honor of the Eagles singer, Bob Seger has debuted a new song tribute to his late friend that can be downloaded for free at Seger's official Facebook page and also is streaming on Rolling Stones magazine's website.

"Glenn Song" is a sparse, melancholy tune that finds Seger musing about Frey's passing and reminiscing about his passion for music.

"You were young, you were bold/ And you loved your rock and soul," Seger sings. "You were strong, you were sharp/ But you had the deepest heart/ You showed the whole world what we knew/ There was no one quite like you."

Seger recorded the track about four months ago in Nashville with some session musicians while working on an upcoming studio album.

"It's obviously not meant to be a hit," he told Rolling Stone. "There's no chorus per se or title section or anything. The idea was just to honor his memory and talk, very specifically, about my impression of him in 1966 when we first met."

The two singers met while they both were playing in bands in the Detroit area. Seger enlisted Frey to sing backing vocals on his 1968 hit "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," but it was Frey who would find super-stardom first as a member of the Eagles.

Seger remained friends with Frey and the two would go on to co-write the Eagles' 1979 chart-topping hit "Heartache Tonight" with Don Henley and J.D. Souther. Seger sang the song at Frey's memorial service, and also performed it during the Eagles' 2016 Kennedy Center Honors tribute.

With regard to his new tune, Seger told Rolling Stone, "I hope 'Glenn Song' doesn't make his wife Cindy cry. But it probably will."

Frey, 67, died on Jan. 18, 2016, of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.