Vince Gill has been a member of the Eagles since 2017, but don’t go to a concert of theirs expecting to hear one of his songs.
In a new interview, the Country Music Hall of Famer reveals that it was actually his decision not to mix the two.
Gill joined the revamped Eagles lineup a year after Glenn Frey died in 2016, joining classic era members Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit and Frey’s son, Deacon Frey, to carry on the band’s musical legacy.
Gill tells American Songwriter that he was soundchecking his monitors one day while Henley was hanging around, and the singer and drummer heard him playing a solo acoustic version of one of his own biggest hits, “Whenever You Come Around.”
Impressed, he asked Gill what the song was.
“I said, ‘Well, it’s just a song of mine that I’ve had out 20 years ago’ or whatever,” Gill remembers. “He said, ‘That’s incredible.’ He said, ‘Let’s work it up. Let’s work it up and do it.’”
As Gill recalls, he found a way to politely refuse Henley’s suggestion.
“I said, ‘Well, with all due respect, I’d rather not,’” the singer-songwriter and guitarist states.
“Don looked at me, puzzled. He said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Look, what I’m getting ready to do, this is going to be pretty uncomfortable for a lot of people, me included.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to give them one more reason not to be happy that I’m out there.’ I don’t want them to sit in those seats saying, ‘I didn’t come here to hear Vince Gill songs. I came here to hear Eagle songs.’”
The Eagles announced their final tour, The Long Goodbye, in June of 2023, with dates projected to continue into 2025.
The band is currently playing a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, with is slated to run through April. It’s unclear if the group will announce more tour dates after that.
The shows at the Sphere mark the stage debut of yet another new member, guitarist Chris Holt. Longtime guitarist Steuart Smith, who began playing with the Eagles in 2001 after Don Felder’s firing, has just retired from the road due to his recent diagnosis of Parkinsonism.
Glenn Frey’s partnership with Don Henley formed the band’s centerpiece, but they’ve gone on without him.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
Which ones go the distance?
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
Don Henley owns a luxurious, historic Spanish bungalow in Hollywood.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
Eagles leader Don Henley recently purchased a luxurious home in California for his son, and the 4-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom, 3,554-square-foot home is compatible with his environmental activism.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
Eagles founder Glenn Frey lived the good life. The legendary singer and guitarist and his wife lived in a 6-bedroom, 9-bathroom, 9,000-square-foot Spanish mansion in a very high-dollar area of Los Angeles, which sold for just under $15 million after Frey’s death in January of 2016.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
Sterling Whitaker is a Senior Writer and Senior Editor for Taste of Country. He focuses on celebrity real estate, as well as coverage of Yellowstone and related shows like 1883 and 1923. He’s interviewed cast members including Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford, and Whitaker is also known for his in-depth interviews with country legends including Don Henley, Rodney Crowell, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs and more.