Who Is Sharon Summerall? Don Henley’s Wife, Explained

Sharon Summerall has spent more than three decades married to one of rock’s most recognizable voices, yet most people couldn’t pick her out of a crowd. That’s by design.

She’s a former model who met Eagles drummer and singer Don Henley in the early 1990s, married him in 1995, and has kept a deliberately low profile ever since — even as Henley’s career and public interest in his life have never really slowed down.

This article pulls together what’s actually confirmed about Sharon Summerall — her career, how she and Henley met, their family, and her health — and is upfront about the handful of details (like her exact birth date) that different outlets report differently, rather than picking one number and presenting it as settled fact.

Who Is Sharon Summerall?

Sharon Summerall is a former fashion model from Texas and the wife of Don Henley, the drummer, co-lead vocalist, and a founding member of the Eagles. She and Henley married on May 20, 1995, and together they have three children: daughters Annabel and Julia, and son Will.

Before meeting Henley, Summerall worked as a model, with her early career interrupted by a car accident in December 1982 that injured her neck, according to D Magazine. She resumed modeling a couple of years later and was picked up by department-store campaigns. That career slowed considerably after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis Henley has spoken about publicly.

Since marrying Henley, Summerall has largely stayed out of interviews, red carpets, and public appearances. The couple relocated their family from Los Angeles to Dallas, Texas, in part to raise their children away from the entertainment industry, and Summerall is rarely photographed or quoted in the press — which is exactly why so little reliable information about her circulates, and why so much of what’s already online about her is guesswork dressed up as fact.

How Sharon Summerall Met Don Henley

According to a Texas Monthly report, Sharon Summerall and Don Henley were introduced through music agent Angus Wynne. The two started dating and were married roughly two years after they first met.

The timing mattered. Henley had gone through a string of high-profile relationships before Summerall, including with Stevie Nicks, Bond actress Lois Chiles, jewelry designer Loree Rodkin, and a broken engagement to actress Maren Jensen. By the time he met Summerall, Henley had already had very public reasons to be cautious about relationships — which is part of why their marriage, which has now lasted more than 30 years, stands out from his earlier dating history.

Sharon Summerall and Don Henley’s Wedding

Henley and Summerall married on May 20, 1995, in Malibu, California, in a wedding reported to have drawn a genuinely notable guest list from the music world: Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Tony Bennett, John Fogerty, and Henley’s own Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey were all reportedly in attendance.

Henley has said he wrote the song “Everything Is Different Now,” released in 2000, about his relationship with Summerall — a rare instance of him speaking publicly, even indirectly, about how meeting her changed him.

Sharon Summerall’s Modeling Career

Before she was known as Don Henley’s wife, Summerall worked as a professional model. Reporting on the specifics of her career is thin and inconsistent across outlets — some cite agency work in Chicago and Paris — but the one detail that’s traceable to a named publication is D Magazine’s account of a car accident.

Her Early Setback and Comeback

In December 1982, Summerall was in a car accident that left her with a neck injury, according to D Magazine. She stepped away from modeling for roughly two years before returning and being picked up by major department-store campaigns. It’s a detail almost none of the competing coverage on her mentions, even though it’s one of the few career facts tied to a specific, named source rather than repeated without attribution.

Sharon Summerall’s Health: What’s Been Publicly Shared About Her Multiple Sclerosis

Sharon Summerall has multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic condition affecting the central nervous system that can cause symptoms like fatigue, numbness, and difficulty with vision, balance, or mobility, depending on severity and type. Henley has discussed her diagnosis publicly in past interviews, which is why it’s part of her public story rather than speculation.

What isn’t reliably documented is the exact date of her diagnosis, or details about her current symptoms or treatment — those specifics simply haven’t been shared, and this article isn’t going to guess at them. What’s clear is that the diagnosis affected her modeling career and that she and Henley have navigated it together throughout their marriage. This is general public-interest information, not medical guidance — if you or someone you know is dealing with an MS diagnosis, a neurologist or an organization like the National MS Society is a far better resource than a celebrity biography page.

Sharon Summerall and Don Henley’s Children

Sharon Summerall and Don Henley have three children together: daughters Annabel and Julia, and son Will. The family has kept the children’s lives largely private, and there’s little detailed public information about their current ages, careers, or whereabouts — a contrast to many celebrity families whose children build their own public profiles.

What is documented is that the children were raised with a deliberate effort to keep them away from the entertainment industry spotlight, which ties directly into the family’s decision to leave Los Angeles altogether.

Why Sharon Summerall Left Hollywood for Dallas

Henley and Summerall moved their family from Los Angeles to Dallas, Texas, reportedly to give their children a more normal upbringing away from the pressures of the entertainment industry. Henley has spoken about this decision in past interviews, including mentioning that he served on their children’s school board — a detail that says more about the family’s actual day-to-day priorities than any amount of “she values her privacy” filler common across other coverage of Summerall.

Dallas also isn’t a random choice of city: it’s where Summerall is from, giving the relocation a practical, family-rooted logic beyond simply avoiding paparazzi.

Since the move, Summerall’s public appearances have been rare. She’s occasionally been photographed at major events tied to Henley’s career or to causes the couple supports, but she has never sought press coverage of her own, and there’s no indication she has any public-facing career today beyond her modeling years decades ago.

What Is Sharon Summerall’s Age? Why It’s Not Reliably Confirmed

If you search for Sharon Summerall’s exact birth date, you’ll find several different answers — some sources cite 1962, others 1963, and a few outlier pages cite dates from the 1940s and 1950s. None of these are tied to a verifiable primary source, and the wide spread between them (a range of roughly 15 years) is itself a strong sign that no one actually knows the real date and outlets are guessing or copying each other’s guesses.

Because of that, this article isn’t going to repeat any of those figures as fact. What can be said with more confidence is that she’s a contemporary of Don Henley’s, born in Texas, and that she’s been an adult, working professional since at least the early 1980s. If a reliable, sourced birth date is ever confirmed, that’s the kind of detail worth updating — but presenting a made-up number with false precision isn’t more helpful to readers, it’s just less honest.

Don Henley’s Life Before Sharon Summerall

Understanding what Henley’s relationship history looked like before Summerall helps explain why their marriage is often framed as the “settling down” chapter of his life. Henley was previously engaged to actress Maren Jensen, and dated other high-profile figures including Stevie Nicks, Bond actress Lois Chiles, and jewelry designer Loree Rodkin. None of those relationships led to marriage.

By the time Henley met Summerall in the early-to-mid 1990s through music agent Angus Wynne, he’d already spent close to two decades as one of rock’s most visible bachelors. Their marriage, at more than 30 years and counting, has outlasted every one of those earlier relationships combined — which is part of why it’s treated as the definitive chapter of Henley’s personal life rather than one relationship among several.

FAQ’s

Who is Sharon Summerall?

Sharon Summerall is a former fashion model and the wife of Don Henley, drummer and co-lead vocalist of the Eagles. She’s originally from Texas and has been married to Henley since 1995.

How did Sharon Summerall meet Don Henley?

They were introduced by music agent Angus Wynne, according to a Texas Monthly report. The two dated for roughly two years before marrying in 1995.

When did Sharon Summerall and Don Henley get married?

They married on May 20, 1995, in Malibu, California, in a wedding attended by musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Sting, and Henley’s Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey.

Does Sharon Summerall have children?

Yes. Sharon Summerall and Don Henley have three children together: daughters Annabel and Julia, and son Will.

Was Sharon Summerall a model?

Yes. She worked as a model before meeting Henley, with her early career interrupted by a car accident in December 1982 that injured her neck, according to D Magazine. She returned to modeling a couple of years later before her career slowed due to her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

Does Sharon Summerall have multiple sclerosis?

Yes. Don Henley has spoken publicly about his wife’s MS diagnosis in past interviews. Specific details about when she was diagnosed or her current health haven’t been shared publicly.

How old is Sharon Summerall?

Her exact birth date isn’t reliably confirmed. Different sources report conflicting years spanning roughly 15 years, none tied to a verifiable primary source, so this article doesn’t state one as fact.

Where do Sharon Summerall and Don Henley live?

The family relocated from Los Angeles to Dallas, Texas, in part to raise their children away from the entertainment industry spotlight. Dallas is also where Summerall is originally from.

Is Don Henley still married to Sharon Summerall?

Yes. As of the most recent public reporting, they remain married, with a relationship that has lasted more than 30 years.

What song did Don Henley write about Sharon Summerall?

Henley has said he wrote “Everything Is Different Now,” released in 2000, about his relationship with Summerall.

Conclusion

Sharon Summerall’s story isn’t dramatic, and that’s rather the point. She built a modeling career, met Don Henley through a mutual industry connection, married him in 1995 in front of a genuinely remarkable guest list, raised three children largely out of the public eye, and has managed a health condition privately while Henley’s career carried on in the spotlight. 

What’s actually confirmed about her life is fairly modest compared to the amount of speculative content written about her — including invented birth dates and, in at least one case, a false claim about her death that simply isn’t true. The more accurate picture is a quieter one: a Texas-raised former model who chose family life in Dallas over three decades of proximity to fame, and who has stayed married to one of rock’s most famous musicians longer than most celebrity marriages last at all.