Patrick Ryan, and Lorena Blas

USA TODAY

Eagles founder Glenn Frey has died at 67.

The band's website posted the news late Monday, writing, "It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our comrade, Eagles founder Glenn Frey, in New York City on Monday, January 18th, 2016."

"Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks, but sadly succumbed to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia," the statement continued. "Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community and millions of fans worldwide."

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News of the former Eagles guitarist's health issues surfaced in November, when the band announced they would not be able to participate in the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony due to Frey's health.

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“Mr. Frey has had a recurrence of previous intestinal issues, which will require major surgery and a lengthy recovery period," the statement read. "The Kennedy Center has graciously agreed to postpone the Eagles’ award presentation until next year, when all four Eagles — Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit — can attend.”

As a member of the Eagles, Frey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and won six Grammy Awards, including record of the year for Hotel California, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1977. It's one of a handful of chart-toppers that the classic rock group scored before it disbanded in 1980.

Speaking to USA TODAY in 1988, Frey credited the band's split to the enormous pressure they felt after 1976 masterpiece Hotel California, which he called "the greatest Eagles album, by virtue of sales and content." They followed it up three years later with the poorly received The Long Run (a "horrible record to participate in," Frey said).

During the break, the Detroit native found success as a solo artist with 1982 album No Fun Aloud, which spawned hits such as The One You Love and All Those Lies. Some of Frey's best-known songs were written for movies and TV: The Heat is On, featured in 1984 Eddie Murphy comedy Beverly Hills Cop; and You Belong to the City from '80s crime show Miami Vice, whose popular soundtrack hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart thanks in part to Frey's saxophone-driven smash.

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"After the Eagles broke up, I set out not just to have a solo career, but just to have a solo life," Frey told USA TODAY in 1988, as he geared up for the release of his third solo album, Soul Searchin'. "Just to be able to get up in the morning and not have to talk to four other people about what we had to do. I learned that there was more to life than making records and touring."

The Eagles reunited in 1994 with live album Hell Freezes Over and had toured steadily since, playing dates across the USA as recently as last summer, as part of their long-running History of the Eagles trek.

In addition to his music career, Frey also acted on occasion: guest-starring on Miami Vice and appearing in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire. He divorced his wife of five years, Janie Beggs, in 1988, and was remarried two years later to dancer Cindy Millican, with whom he had three children.

Contributing: Jefferson Graham