Eagles Stolen Lyrics Trial: What We Know

Say it long-running rock collector trials — one finally scheduled to begin this week after a long delay.

In one of the most high-profile cases involving the music memorabilia world, three men were arrested in July 2020, accused of trying to sell handwritten lyric pages to songs from the Eagles' 1976 album Hotel California (and allegedly lying about the origin of the property). The documents were reported to be worth more than $1 million and included drafts of songs such as the title track and “Life in the Fast Lane” by the band's Don Henley.

After several delays — the trial was scheduled to begin last fall — the case, a non-jury trial, is finally scheduled to begin in New York state Supreme Criminal Court on Wednesday.

All the defendants have connections to collectors or the art world. Glenn Horowitz is a dealer in high quality rare books and private archives of authors including Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe. Craig Inciardi is a curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (fired after the arrest) and Edward Kosinski owns Gotta Have Rock and Roll, a memorabilia business in New Jersey. According to court documents, they were accused of attempting to “possess, transport, store and sell such manuscripts” and of “fabricating the provenance of the lyric manuscripts and for all defendants to communicate such false provenance to third parties.”

The three men were each charged with one count of fourth-degree conspiracy, which carries a sentence of up to four years in prison. Horowitz was charged with first-degree attempted criminal possession of stolen property and two counts of hindering prosecution. Inciardi and Kosinski were also charged with first-degree criminal possession charges.

All surrendered and, through their lawyers, denied the charges.

The origins of the case go back more than 40 years, when Ed Sanders – the writer, poet and founding member of the Fugs – was researching a biography of the Eagles and was given access to their archives, including lyric notes. The book, which Sanders said was 900 pages long, was never published.

Nearly 20 years ago, Sanders sold the notebooks to Horowitz for $50,000. In 2012, Horowitz then sold the documents to Inciardi and Kosinski, who then approached auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's. Henley bought some of the lyrics for $8,500 in 2012, but later filed a stolen report with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

In May 2019, more than a dozen officers from the Manhattan District Attorney's office raided Kosinski's home in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, followed by similar visits to the homes of Inciardi and Horowitz. In all, the agents walked away with 1,300 pages of paper, USB drives, four Apple MacBooks, iPads, at least two iPhones, files with bank records and the biggest prize of all: 84 pages of handwritten lyrics to songs on Hotel California.

At the time of the arrest, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said: “These defendants attempted to keep and sell these unique and valuable manuscripts even though they knew they had no right to do so. They made up stories about the origin of the documents and their right to own them so they could make a profit.”

Attorneys for the defendants filed a lawsuit in the fall of 2022, seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the lyrics were not stolen: As Horowitz's attorney, Jonathan Bach, wrote at the time, Sanders “traveled with the band and obtained voluminous material, including of handwritten drafts of Eagles lyrics. The indictment does not state anywhere that Mr. Sanders stole or obtained inappropriate materials.” The motion also cited statute of limitations (resulting from delays in Covid-related criminal cases) as one of its arguments. The motion was denied and the trial continued.

At the time of the arrests, Eagles manager Irving Azoff said: “This action exposes the truth about music memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a facade of legality. No one has the right to sell ill-gotten wealth or profit from the outright theft of irreplaceable pieces of music history.”

But among the many questions that will hopefully be answered during the trial are why the case is criminal (not civil), why Sanders wasn't charged, and exactly how Sanders obtained the lyrics as part of his investigation. The trial is expected to last at least 10 days.