Singer, musician and songwriter Glenn Frey, best known as a founding member of one of America's most popular rock bands, the Eagles, has died. He was 67.

The band, famous for classic rock hits such as Hotel California (1977) and Desperado (1973), released a statement of his death on Monday through their website and Facebook page.

"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," it says.

Frey had suffered from intestinal problems in recent years. Late last year, the Eagles, who have sold 100 million records worldwide, postponed their Kennedy Center Honors ceremony due to his ill health.

Frey and fellow lead singer Don Henley are founders and the longest-serving members of the Eagles, which formed in 1970. Besides singing, playing the guitar, piano and keyboards, Frey was also one of the band's main songwriters.

With a sound that merges rock and country, the California-based band released their debut album in 1972 and went on to become one of the world's best-selling music acts based on album sales and live tours.

Their 1976 compilation album, Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), is recognised by the Recording Industry Association Of America as the biggest-selling album release in the United States in the 20th century and has sold 29 million copies there. The band's most popular studio album and their fifth release, Hotel California, sold more than 32 million albums worldwide.

They have won six Grammys, including Record Of The Year for Hotel California in 1977 and Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for How Long in 2008. In 1998, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band split in 1980 due to conflicts among the members. Frey went on to a fairly successful solo career that included two No. 2 hits, The Heat Is On, the theme song for cop movie Beverly Hills Cop, and You Belong To The City, from cop television show Miami Vice. Both were released in 1984.

The Eagles made a comeback in 1994 and went on to release more successful albums and tour globally. The first album and tour after the reunion was called Hell Freezes Over, a tongue-in-cheek reference to a Henley quote that the band would reunite only "when hell freezes over". Their seventh and final studio album, Long Road Out Of Eden, was released in 2007.

The band's final global tour, dubbed History Of The Eagles - Live In Concert, spanned two years and ended with their final show together in Louisiana last July. They performed at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2004 and 2011.

Frey also dabbled in acting and had a starring role in the 1986 action movie, Let's Get Harry.

His death comes just more than a week after English singer David Bowie died of cancer at the age of 69, another music star who first rose to prominence in the 1970s.

Henley paid tribute to his late band member in a statement, crediting Frey as "the one who started it all", "the spark plug, the man with the plan".

He added: "He was like a brother to me. We were family and, like most families, there was some dysfunction. But the bond we forged 45 years ago was never broken, even during the 14 years that the Eagles were dissolved."

Veteran home-grown singer and club DJ Jerry Fernandez, 65, says Frey's songs, whether with the Eagles or on his own, were immensely popular in clubs here in the mid-1970s and 1980s.

"Every other DJ set that I did, or whenever I performed with my band, someone would request an Eagles song, whether it's Hotel California, New Kid In Town, Tequila Sunrise or any of their other songs. There were also a lot of requests in the 1980s for his solo songs such as The Heat Is On."

The lead singer of one of Singapore's most prominent club bands, Jive Talkin', Raffy Aspier, 59, has had the same experience: "Most nights, someone would ask for an Eagles song," he says.

"I never get tired of singing them because they are so melodic."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS