Randy Meisner, the founding bassist for the Eagles and co-writer and singer of “Take It To The Limit,” has died. The Eagles confirmed the news, announcing on Thursday that Meisner had died Wednesday night due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. “Randy was an integral part of the Eagles and instrumental in the early success of the band,” the band said. “His vocal range was astonishing, as is evident on his signature ballad, ‘Take It to the Limit.’”

Born in 1946 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Meisner started playing bass and performing in local bands in high school. His first professional experience was with a local band called the Dynamics (later called the Drivin’ Dynamics) from 1961 to 1965. After that, he moved to California with a band called the Soul Survivors, later named the Poor. The Poor released several singles on Loma, York, and Decca Records in 1966 and 1967 but never really took off.

Prior to joining the Eagles in 1971, Meisner joined Poco with former Buffalo Springfield members Richie Furay and Jim Messina, and later Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band, which also featured a few bandmates from the Poor. As a session player, Meisner did bass on two tracks from James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James (“Country Road” and “Blossom”). He also played bass on a few tracks for Waylon Jennings’ 1970 album Singer Of Sad Songs. He also briefly moved back to Nebraska in 1970, where he worked at a local John Deere tractor dealership and played in a band called Goldrush in the evenings.

Ultimately, Rick Nelson urged Meisner to return to LA, where he was recruited by John Boylan to be in Linda Ronstadt’s backing band, which included eventual founding Eagles members Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Bernie Leadon.

With the Eagles, Meisner released the band’s 1972 self-titled debut LP, which featured “Take It To The Limit,” which went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meisner also wrote and sang lead on “Try And Love Again,” “Is it True?,” “Take The Devil,” and “Tryin’.” He later worked on 1973’s Desperado, 1974’s On The Border, and 1975’s One Of These Nights. Meisner’s last year with the Eagles was 1977, following a tour in support of 1976’s Hotel California. The bassist cited ill health, exhaustion, and a desire to be closer to family as his reasons for leaving. He was succeeded by Timothy B. Schmit.

After the Eagles, Meisner released solo albums — 1978’s self-titled and 1980’s One More Song. Through the ’80s, he toured with his band, Randy Meisner & the Silverados. In 1982, he released another self-titled album, which featured Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart. In 1985, Meisner joined the all-star band Black Tie featuring Bread’s Jimmy Griffin and Billy Swan. They’re cover of Buddy Holly’s “Learning The Game,” which became a country-radio hit.

Meisner was not part of the Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over reunion tour in 1994 (he expressed disappointment around not being invited at the time), but he did appear with the band in 1998 when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, where they performed “Take It Easy” and “Hotel California.” He was invited by the Eagles to join their History Of The Eagles 2013 world tour, but Meisner was unable due to ongoing health issues.