Chris Holt Joins the Eagles As Touring Guitarist, Replacing Steuart Smith

The Eagles had a new face in town to kick off its 2025 run of residency gigs at Las Vegas’ Sphere. At the veteran band’s gig Jan. 17, they took the stage with veteran Dallas session guitarist Chris Holt, who was introduced to the audience by singer-drummer-guitarist Don Henley.

In a video posted Idol Records, Henley welcomed Holt “on the first night of his side hustle with the Eagles.” The Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday (Jan. 23), that Holt is replacing longtime Eagles guitarist Steuart Smith, who recently announced that after a nearly 25-year run with the group, he was stepping down due to a diagnosis of Parkinsonism, a neurological condition that causes slow movements, tremors and stiffness.

“I’m trying to fill the giant shoes of all three that came before me,” Holt told the paper in reference to previous Eagles guitarists Don Felder and Bernie Leadon. “It’s some of the most beautiful guitar work ever recorded, in my opinion. It’s the highest honor for me to do it, and it’s my duty to get it right.” The paper noted that Smith and Holt are good friends who’ve performed together in the past in Henley’s solo band.

Smith, who has played with country luminaries including Dolly Parton, Roseanne Cash and Vince Gill, started his gig as a touring member of the Eagles in 2001, after the veteran group booted longtime member Felder. Holt, who has played with everyone from Bob Dylan to Ringo Starr, James Taylor, Stevie Nicks, the Chicks and, most recently Heartbreakers member Mike Campbell’s Dirty Knobs, told the Morning News that playing guitar and singing harmony with the Eagles as part of their Long Goodbye tour is “definitely challenging.”

“There’s a ton of iconic lead guitar to play — solos that people know every note of — so you wanna make sure you get the tones and the phrasing just right,” he said. “The Eagles are legendary perfectionists and the parts are tricky, so it’s no easy feat to nail it, every time.”

The Eagles kicked off its Sphere residency in September with Smith, who the paper said revealed his departure in a recent statement: “I must bow out of my role with the Eagles while I can still do so gracefully. It’s been a great quarter of a century, and I had hoped to be able to finish out this year with the band. But I must now do what’s best for all concerned.”

The paper also noted that in a separate statement, Henley– the group’s only remaining original member — thanked Smith for his long tenure. “The Eagles will be forever grateful for the extraordinary talents that he brought to both our recordings and live performances,” he said. “Steuart will be greatly missed, but he will always be a part of our musical family. We know our many fans join us in wishing him well.”

The Eagles’ Sphere residency continues on Friday (Jan. 24) and Saturday (Jan. 25), followed by four February dates (14, 15, 21, 22).