Born November 6, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan, Glenn Frey co-founded the Eagles in 1971 alongside Don Henley, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon after meeting during a Linda Ronstadt backing tour. As co-lead singer and frontman, Frey and Henley wrote most of the band's catalog together, with Frey taking lead vocals on "Take It Easy," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Lyin' Eyes," "New Kid in Town," and "Heartache Tonight." The band split around 1980 but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, and Frey went on to a solid solo run, scoring hits with "The Heat Is On" from Beverly Hills Cop and "You Belong to the City" and "Smuggler's Blues" from Miami Vice. He racked up 24 Top 40 Hot 100 singles and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Eagles in 1998, their first year of eligibility.

Born November 6, 1964, in Brooklyn, Corey Glover was recruited into Living Colour in 1985 by guitarist Vernon Reid, reportedly after Reid heard him singing at a friend's party. The band's 1988 debut Vivid broke through behind "Cult of Personality," which won the 1989 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance and helped the band take home Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards; the follow-up Time's Up won that same Grammy category again in 1990. Glover, who trained as an actor before music, played Pvt. Francis in Oliver Stone's Platoon in 1986 and later took on Judas in a national touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar. He has also fronted the funk band Galactic since 2010 and, in 2018, formed the rock group Ultraphonix alongside guitarist George Lynch.

Born November 6, 1966, in Carbondale, Illinois, Paul Gilbert became one of the era's fastest and most technical guitarists after forming Racer X in Los Angeles in 1985 with bassist Juan Alderete and drummer Scott Travis, releasing the shred landmark Street Lethal. Around 1987, bassist Billy Sheehan sought him out to form a new band, and the two launched Mr. Big with drummer Pat Torpey and singer Eric Martin, finding early success in Japan before 1991's Lean into It broke worldwide behind the acoustic ballad "To Be with You," a Billboard Hot 100 number one. Known for blistering alternate picking blended with legato runs, Gilbert later pivoted toward blues and melody, built a long teaching career at the Guitar Institute of Technology, and has released solo instrumental and vocal albums since 1996.