Sharon Summerall is the wife of American singer-songwriter and ‘Eagles’ founding member, drummer, and lead vocalist Don Henley. Sharon had a career as a model and has worked with a couple of prominent modeling agencies in Chicago and Paris. Unfortunately, she could not build a significant career in modeling, as she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis later. She was already undergoing treatment when she first met Don. He supported her throughout her struggle and finally married her after dating her for a couple of years. The ‘Eagles’ singer and drummer had several failed relationships and a called-off engagement in the past. However, he found his soulmate in Sharon. The two have now been married for 2 decades and are still going strong. Sharon and Don have three children. They currently live in Dallas, Texas.
Career
Sharon is a former model. Though not much is known about her career or when exactly she began modeling, according to ‘modelscomposites.com,’ Sharon had worked with the modeling agency ‘Elite’ in Chicago, from 1986 to 1987. In between, she had also worked with ‘Eva Models’ in Paris.
Relationship with Don
Sharon had retired from her modeling career when she met Don for the first time in 1993. They dated for 2 years. Don proposed marriage soon, and they got married on May 20, 1995. Celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow, Glenn Frey, and Tony Bennett performed at the wedding reception held at the ‘Vista Ranch.’ Don sang the ‘Beatles’ song ‘In My Life’ to his beloved wife.
It was a star-studded wedding, and several leading celebrities of the time, such as Jackson Browne, Bob Seger, and the ‘Stings,’ witnessed the wedding. One of the guests described the event as “a rock-and-roll hall of fame.” Despite all that glitz at the event, Sharon and Don smartly kept it away from the media.
In one of his interviews to ‘Express’ in 2015, Don revealed what had taken him so long to settle down, considering he had had a long list of past affairs. Initially, he was not ready to get into a lifetime commitment such as marriage, and later, he could not find a soulful connection with any of the women he dated. It all changed after he met Sharon, and he finally decided to settle down with her.
Family &Personal Life
Sharon and Don have three kids together. Their first daughter, Annabel, was born on December 17, 1995. They have one more daughter, Julia, and a son, Will. Sharon and Don wanted their children to grow up away from Hollywood, as they considered the industry a huge distraction. Hence, they moved to Dallas, Texas, to raise their children.
In February 2012, Don gave an interview to ‘Mirror,’ in which he claimed that he and Sharon had always wanted to raise their children away from the glamor world. He added that raising kids in Los Angeles was a challenge. Another reason for moving to Dallas was Sharon’s parents, who lived there. Thus, the children got ample time to spend with their grandparents while growing up. All three Henley kids attended a school that was just 20 minutes away from their house. Don was on the school board.
Sharon was born in Texas and grew up in a blue-collar family. Her father worked on a farm. A few days before she met Don, Sharon was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She has been under treatment since then and has successfully managed the disease until now. While dating Don, she got his full support and always found him by her side. The two are now actively involved with non-profit organizations that work for multiple sclerosis patients.
Trivia
Even though Sharon and Don have been in a strong marital bond for years now, she is not the first woman in his life. He has had a series of failed romantic relationships with a number of Hollywood beauties, such as “Bond girl” Lois Chiles (with whom he had a 3-year relationship), Loree Rodkin (whom he dated in 1974), and singer Stevie Nicks (whom he dated on and off till 1977). Don was even engaged to actor Maren Jensen in the early 1980s. The engagement was called off in 1986.
Don loves to compose songs about Sharon. He has written many songs about her as he has done for almost all the women he has dated in the past. Sharon is the inspiration behind some of his main tracks, such as the song ‘Everything Is Different Now’ from Don’s 2000 album ‘Inside Job.’