(Credits: Far Out / Essential Broadcast Media / Showtime)
Fri 24 October 2025 23:00, UK
While he may not have had the opportunity to spend time in the studio working on the band’s classic albums, Vince Gill has been a stellar addition to the Eagles’ lineup since he became a full-time member of the band.
Having made a name for himself throughout the 1970s as one of the most formidable bluegrass musicians on the circuit, Gill was certainly known to the rest of the band while they were equally staking their claim to being the finest country rock outfit in the world. However, he would get his big break in the early 1980s, performing alongside Pure Prairie League, a soft rock band who had much in common with what the Eagles had been doing in the previous decade.
Already proving his merit as a versatile player, he would eventually become an in-demand musician, collaborating with people in a variety of genres, working alongside everyone from Michael McDonald to Dolly Parton. However, his first loves were still what he aimed to stay closest to, which meant, should he be offered an opportunity to work alongside his heroes in the Eagles, he would undoubted take it up, and that’s exactly what happened in 2017
He was asked by the outfit to step in and replace singer and guitarist Glenn Frey following his death at 67 the year before, and while the chance may not have arrived in the most fortunate circumstances, he finally could share a stage with a band he had admired since the earliest years of his career. Joining alongside Frey’s son Deacon and sharing guitar duties with him, he’s been a vital part of the group ever since as they’ve continued to tour around the world.
The only issue in having joined as a replacement for Frey, was not only did he have enormous shoes to fill, but he also never got the chance to be in the same band as the man he idolised so much. While performing alongside Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B Schmit was just as special for him, it was Frey’s work that he held dearest, and on multiple occasions, he spoke of his predecessor in the most reverent fashion.
“He was a world-class guitar player,” Gill told Rolling Stone in a tribute to the late musician, “For a long time, Don Felder and Joe were front and centre taking the lead role, but I don’t think a lot of people realise that all that soulful guitar playing was Glenn.” While it may well have been that Felder and Walsh took a lot of the plaudits for the lead guitar work on records like Hotel California and The Long Run, Frey was the songwriter coming up with a lot of these guitar lines, and performing them on many occasions.
His work is perhaps still grossly underrated, with most in the music world considering him to be more of a songwriter, but as a guitarist, Frey was certainly up there with the best, and for Gill to be taking his place must have been an honour, no matter how bittersweet came the moment.
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