Vince Gill became a full-time member of The Eagles after Glenn Frey’s passing in 2016. He shared what helped him fit into the group in the past eight years during a recent chat with Truetone Lounge.
“I never cared what role I played in music,” Gill explained. He highlighted being a team player, “I didn’t have to be the front guy. I didn’t have to be talking in between songs. I didn’t have to be the lead guitar player. None of it mattered. I just liked being a part of the process.”
“And when I started playing with the Eagles… my favorite comment Don [Henley] made about me was they asked him, ‘Why’d you get the country guy to be in your band?’ He goes, ‘He knows how to be in a band.’ That was a great compliment.”
The guitarist also mentioned that he avoided putting his ‘spin’ on The Eagles’ music to stay true to their sound as an established band: “I always say the records are real good place to start. If you want to find something to enhance that, go ahead, I’m all for it. I’m in a band that’s a note-for-note expectation of everything you reproduce with the Eagles. But that’s the way it should be.”
He added, “I can’t imagine not hearing those songs and not hearing the iconic lines, the iconic backgrounds, everything that made the arranging of those records so great.”
The Eagles is currently on their ‘Long Goodbye Tour.’ The band announced the farewell trek in 2023 but added 20 more shows for 2024 at Las Vegas’ Sphere earlier this year.
Their first show in Sin City will take place on September 20, continuing through January 2025.