Are rock star dads cooler than the rest of us? As if, according to Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Famer Glenn Frey.

The Eagles co-founder, who played to a sold-out Casino Rama crowd this spring, is featured along with his legendary bandmates tonight at 8 p.m. on Toronto1's broadcast of The Eagles Farewell 1 Tour.

As the 56-year-old musician explained on the phone, the two-hour music special was edited from several shows The Eagles performed last November in Australia, part of a Down Under tour that saw the California band break the Rolling Stones' Aussie concert attendance record. Three shows in Melbourne were recorded; Frey spent most of December editing them down to tonight's special plus an expanded, 30 song, best-selling Eagles Farewell 1 DVD.

First, back to that dad thing. Turns out Frey and I have kids the same age. My 15-year-old daughter and his 12-year-old son are heavy into '70s music. The difference is he wrote a lot of it (Lyin' Eyes, Desperado, Hotel California) and has an office full of Gold and Platinum records to prove it.

Not that that impresses his kids. "Here at the house, it's really not that big a deal," says Frey, 56. "I'm just as insufferable and useless as every other dad is. The dynamic never changes, no matter what you do for a living."

Except he can fly his kids to England for a Cream reunion and cozy up with other guitar gods backstage, as he did on a recent trip with son Deacon. "We were at the after party and met Mike Rutherford (Genesis) and David Gilmour from Pink Floyd," says Frey. Frey Junior was in his glory, talking guitars with Gilmour. As they were parting, Gilmour tells the kid to "keep practising."

Frey just shook his head. "I went back to Gilmour a couple of minutes later and said, 'You know, David, I could say that five hundred times and it would have the weight of a feather. You launched the ship.' "

Frey says that, as far as he knows, The Eagles were not asked to join any of the worldwide Live 8 concerts taking place July 2. Does he think the Bob Geldof initiative will have any impact on global hunger? Frey doesn't know, but applauds the dude for trying.

"I think musicians and artists are the most philanthropic people I know," he says, adding that he's lost track of how many Eagles guitars have been auctioned off to raise funds. "Their charity record of the music business would hold up to the work of anybody."

The Eagles, who once vowed that they'd reunite only when hell froze over, branded their first comeback effort the "Hell Freezes Over Tour." Frey admits "Farewell 1" (bandmate Don Henley's idea) is an extension of the same joke. He knows fans have seen too many farewell tours by Cher, The Who and his band to take any of this "last concert ever" stuff too seriously.

Still, he hopes that the band does take an extended break at least when the current tour winds down in California this November. "I think we're gonna pull the plug, at least for a while," he says.

With sold-out concerts and best selling DVDs, why quit? "Because there's more to life than touring," says Frey. "The Eagles have been very good to me, rewarding both artistically and financially, but there comes a time when you just want to walk away when everything is really good."

Besides, he adds, "I've got three kids now. My first commitment is to them."

And those guitar lessons.