If someone said to me I don't like Eagles, I would think they don't like the bird of prey. Now, if they said, I don't like the Eagles, I would know exactly what they mean.
As others stated above, when you refer to a band name that is or sounds/implies a plural, you add "the" before the band name when it occurs in a sentence, if the band name doesn't already have the word "the" at the start. When the band name includes "the" at the start, you make the word "the" lowercase--or we could say that you drop the capitalized "The" from the name and add a sentential "the." So "I am going to see the Eagles," and "I am going to see the Rolling Stones." When you write the band name outside of the context of a sentence, so for example if you're compiling a chart, you write the band name as it appears on their releases, or as it's supposed to officially be if the releases are inconsistent. So: Eagles - Hotel California The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
True, I didn't notice the plural. There's a third variation of their name (apart from Ciccone Youth), but I forget what it is.
On a slight tangent … David Byrne grew so tired of people adding a ‘the’ in front his band’s name that he titled the live album The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads. He would often state this on stage too. However, drummer Chris Frantz obviously never got the memo as I’ve heard him refer to The Talking Heads on more than one occasion.
Officially it's just Eagles. If you use the article "the", it's lower case unless it's the first word in a sentence.
By chance, I was also listening to Casey's 1972 Top Forty on Sunday morning via Sirius while driving. He did indeed introduce the band as Eagles without the article "The" prior to the playing of Witchy Woman. Kasem was always very exact in his speech. There are entire threads on this topic of band names. As for me, I typically cross-check Wiki, MusicBrainz, Discogs, and Allmusic, and choose the most prevalent usage.
Yes, and it was stupid then, too. If I was out and about, made a reference to The Eagles or the Eagles, or whatever, and someone said "It's just Eagles, man", I would have a hard time not laughing in their stupid face.
Since Henley is the sole original member, the act should be billed as "Eagle". Similarly, Donald Fagen should consider "Steely Don".
This is purely a grammatical problem - when you have an artist whose name is a plural noun ending in - s (like Eagles,Carpenters,Bangles, Beach Boys etc.) you have to add the definite article "the" when you say "I am going to listen to ....."(no matter what the official name of the band is ) because without the "the", the sentence would be grammatically wrong , the definite article in this case does not have to be part of the band's name
Prior to Stop Making Sense, Byrne used to consistently announce the band that way in live shows. It was entirely consistent with his stage persona. He would also introduce songs with a deadpan "This song is called New Feeling" [or whatever the name of the song was...] in the early days..
Not true for Counting Crows though. At least I've never heard anyone refer to them as "The Counting Crows".
