Glenn Frey Drive approved in Royal Oak

A Royal Oak street now is connected to rock royalty.

School board members voted unanimously Thursday night to approve renaming part of Willis Avenue after Glenn Frey, the city-bred Eagles co-founder who died last month at age 67.

“I think it’s a positive for the city,” said Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison, who attended the board meeting. “It ties in to a lot of what Royal Oak is. We try to stay ahead of what’s going on. We have an opportunity to honor one of the city’s most famous citizens, and we just did it.”

Before relocating to California in the 1970s and launching the Eagles with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, Frey grew up in the Oakland County suburb.

In 1966 he graduated from Dondero High, which now is Royal Oak Middle School. The street running along its south side between N. West Street and N. Washington Avenue now will be known as Glenn Frey Drive, according to the recommendation the school board approved.

The radio station WCSX-FM had met with city officials and the Royal Oak School Board to rename the stretch, representatives for owner Greater Media Detroit said.

An unveiling ceremony is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 18 in front of Frey’s alma mater, officials said.

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Eagles — Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit and Bernie Leadon — are set to be joined by Jackson Browne during a tribute to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer at Monday’s Grammy Awards, producers announced this week.