Randy Meisner, the iconic American musician and founding member of the band, Eagles, was married twice in his lifetime; First to Jennifer Barton and then to Lana Meisner. Prior to his death on July 26, 2023, the rock star’s marriages made the waves for not-so-great reasons.
His first marriage with Jennifer ended in divorce after welcoming three children. Yet this was not the worse of it. After finding love again in the arms of Lana, it was unthinkable that their love story would end in 2016 after she accidentally shot herself dead in the home they shared.
Randy Meisner was Married to Jennifer Barton for Close to Two Decades
The country-rock crooner and instrumentalist got married to his first wife, Jennifer Barton in 1963, a few years before the Eagles band was formed. Apparently, the pair had been dating since high school and when they eventually tied the knot, the pair managed to keep their love life quiet. Moreso, Randy was a struggling musician with The Dynamics at the time.
The pair welcomed a child, a son named Dana Scott Meisner in November of the same year they tied the knot. 7 years after this, the pair welcomed a pair of twins, Heather Leigh and Eric Shane Meisner in May 1970.
Shortly after the birth of the couple’s twins, Meisner’s experienced a career milestone when he and three other friends formed the Eagles in 1971. However, his stay with the band did not last long and he eventually left the band in 1977 to start a solo career.
While Meisner’s career changed direction, he and Jennifer soon called their marriage quits in 1981. Considering that they were together for after almost two decades, they chose to keep the details about the cause of divorce away from the public. In the years following this, the pair became estranged and this affected his relationship with his three children.
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Randy Meisner’s Second Marriage Lasted for 20 Years
Randy Meisner found love again in the arms of Lana Rae Meisner, a woman that was described as a brunette beauty. The two dated for 12 years before they finally tied the knot in November 1996.
Unlike his first marriage, this one did not produce any children, regardless it did not reduce their affection for each other or even affect their decision to stay together.
Nonetheless, things took a turn for the worse when speculations about the couple’s strained marriage started surfacing. In April 2015, a petition for a court-supervised conservatorship was filed by James Newton, a close friend of Randy’s. According to Newton, Lana was taking advantage of Randy and force-feeding him vodka despite his history of addiction to alcohol and drugs since the 60s. Lana and Randy both denied these claims. Despite this, the LA County Superior Court later appointed a temporary conservator to manage Meisner’s drug prescription and medical issues.
While this was still going on, the pair made it to the news again when Lana k*lled herself on March 6, 2016, in the Studio City home she shared with the guitarist. According to the reports, she had moved a rifle that was stored in a closet and as she lifted it, another item hit the trigger which fired at her.
Prior to this, the police had received a distress call and when dispatchers arrived at their home, Lana told them that her husband was waving a rifle at her. This serious issue prompted the police to file a domestic violence involving the couple. However, a source within the force later revealed that it was a false alarm.
The Truth about Lana’s Death
Considering the manner she died, an investigation was launched. While it’s unclear why the couple kept a loaded gun, it had been suggested that it was probably for self-defense against intruders.
Also, surveillance footage later revealed that Meisner was at a different part of the house when the incident happened. Based on all these details, the police concluded that the incident was a freak accident since there was no indication of any criminal activity.
As it is, not much has been heard of the case again. Yet, Meisner’s life never remained the same due to how shaken he was by the incident. Following Lana’s death, Meisner threatened to kill himself and this led to his admission to a psychiatric ward.
