3 charged in scheme to sell stolen handwritten ‘Hotel California’ lyrics
New York — A few folks ended up billed Tuesday in an alleged conspiracy involving the handwritten lyrics to the basic rock juggernaut “Hotel California” and other hits by the Eagles.
Prosecutors explained the defendants, inspite of realizing the materials was stolen, lied to auction houses and prospective buyers about the manuscripts’ origins.
An indictment submitted in condition court in Manhattan accuses Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski of plotting to have Don Henley’s notes and lyrics for songs that also incorporated “Life in the Quickly Lane” and “New Kid In Town,” completely valued at far more than $1 million.
The males pleaded not responsible by way of their lawyers at the arraignment. They ended up produced without the need of bail.
“The DA’s office alleges criminality exactly where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of properly-highly regarded experts,” the lawyers stated in a assertion. “We will combat these unjustified fees vigorously. These guys are innocent.”
In a assertion, the Eagles thanked prosecutors for bringing a circumstance that exposes “the fact about tunes memorabilia gross sales of very personal, stolen products hidden at the rear of a facade of legitimacy.”
It referred to as the objects “an integral component of the legacy Don Henley has made over the class of his 50-plus-calendar year career” that want to be returned “for him and his relatives to appreciate and maintain for posterity.”
According to courtroom files, an author employed to write a biography of the band initially stole the manuscripts in the late 1970s. The papers detail e mail correspondence between the defendants and a human being boasting he located the content discarded many years ago in a dressing home backstage at an Eagles live performance.
“It was about 35 a long time ago and my memory is foggy!” the particular person wrote.
Prosecutors say that between 2012 and 2017 the defendants tried using to get Henley to purchase back the stolen manuscripts, while at the similar time in search of to peddle them to other likely consumers by way of Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction properties.
At a single point Horowitz tried out to claim that the source of the residence was yet another founding Eagles member, Glenn Frey, following Frey’s death in 2016, prosecutors mentioned. In one particular electronic mail, he wrote that Frey “alas, is dead and pinpointing him as the source would make this go away at the time and for all,” they alleged.
Authorities armed with look for warrants at last retrieved the resources from Sotheby’s and from Kosinski’s New Jersey residence.
The eponymous “Hotel California” album and its chart-topping title music both gained Grammy Awards. The album has offered far more than 26 million copies because its launch in 1976, building it just one of the bestselling albums in history.
