NEW YORK – As the Eagles co-founder, singer and songwriter Glenn Frey mastered the mix of rock ’n’ roll and country music, and the band’s hits – including “Hotel California” and “Take It Easy,” both co-written by Frey — helped define the 1970s.

Frey died Monday of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia in New York at age 67. He was born in Detroit and formed the band with Don Henley in 1971 in Los Angeles.

Frey and Henley came from humble beginnings after playing backup to another legend, Linda Ronstadt, and later forming the Eagles when signing with David Geffen’s Asylum Records. Their sound would go on to successfully blend rock and country – something that others tried but that was mastered by the Eagles. Who else has won Grammy Awards – stretched across 1975 and 2008 — in the rock, pop and country categories?

The band released some of the most popular songs of the 1970s: “Take It Easy,” written by Frey and Jackson Browne, is irresistible with Frey singing lead and the band’s harmonies intact, and “Hotel California,” the moody soft rock track, is simply a classic.