Meisner, who quit the band in 1977, choked on food and collapsed at his home in California, and he spent months recovering in hospital.

The veteran musician has now revealed his former Eagles bandmates stepped in to help during his health scare, and footed the bill for all his medical treatment.

"I aspirated some food into my throat and choked," he tells the New York Daily News. "I was in a coma for a little while, too. They paid for everything, me being in the hospital."

Meisner made the revelation following the news of Glenn Frey's death on Monday (18Jan16), and admits he broke down in tears when he heard his longtime pal had succumbed to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia.

"When I heard... I started crying for a long time," he adds. "You're like brothers in a band like that. Sometimes we got in arguments, but it was like a marriage, we all loved each other. I sure will miss the guy."