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Vince Gill

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Vince Gill

Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after taking over as lead singer of the soft rock band Pure Prairie League. Gill sang lead on their hit single "Let Me Love You Tonight" in addition to writing several of their songs. After leaving Pure Prairie League, Gill briefly played guitar in Rodney Crowell's backing band the Cherry Bombs before beginning a solo career in country music in 1984. Gill recorded for RCA Records Nashville from then until 1988 with minimal success. A year later he signed with MCA Nashville and has recorded for them since.

Gill's commercial peak came in the first half of the 1990s, starting with his breakthrough album When I Call Your Name. He has made 65 entries on the Billboard country music charts, including four solo number one hits: "I Still Believe in You", "Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away", "One More Last Chance", and "Tryin' to Get Over You", all between 1992 and 1994. He has also had number-one singles as a guest on Reba McEntire's "The Heart Won't Lie" in 1993, and Chris Young's "Sober Saturday Night" and the multi-artist collaboration "Forever Country", both in 2016. All of Gill's albums released in the 1990s were certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with I Still Believe in You (1992) his highest, at quintuple-platinum. Gill has won 22 Grammy Awards, the most among solo male country music artists.

Gill was a member of Western swing group the Time Jumpers from 2010 to 2020, and joined the rock band Eagles in 2017 following the death of founding member Glenn Frey. He has also participated in a variety of collaborations, including songs by Patty Loveless, Brooks & Dunn, Kelly Clarkson, and Maren Morris. Additionally, Gill has written songs for Alabama and Ty Herndon, and holds a number of credits as a backing vocalist and session musician. From 1980 to 1997, he was married to Janis Oliver, one-half of the country duo Sweethearts of the Rodeo; after they divorced, he married contemporary Christian music singer Amy Grant in 2000.

Gill is known for his songwriting, his tenor singing voice, and his lead guitar work, with many critics noting his proficiency in both emotional ballads and uptempo material. He plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, and Dobro.

Vincent Grant Gill was born April 12, 1957, in Norman, Oklahoma, as the youngest of three children to Jerene and Stan Gill. Stan Gill was a judge who also played guitar and banjo, both of which he taught his son how to play. Jerene also sang and played harmonica. The Gill family often listened to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio, as well as contemporary rock and roll artists. Both parents also enjoyed golf, a pastime that Gill himself would develop as well. As a child, Gill began playing a guitar his grandmother owned, and learned how to play "Old Shep" on it when he was five years old; three years later, he and his half-brother Bob played the Beach Boys' "Long Tall Texan" on a local radio show. Gill also took guitar lessons from a local guitarist named J. Julian Akins. Additionally, Gill brought his guitar to school for show and tell a number of times, where he would entertain students by playing "The House of the Rising Sun". Gill also learned how to play Dobro, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and bass guitar during his teenage years.

He developed an interest in bluegrass music after becoming friends with the son of his father's friend, who was a fan of the genre and also played mandolin. After graduating from high school, Gill founded his own bluegrass band called Mountain Smoke, which opened for the hard rock band Kiss at a concert on March 4, 1976. According to Gill, the crowd began booing and throwing objects on the stage during Mountain Smoke's set, to which he responded by flipping the bird and mooning them before leaving the stage. After Mountain Smoke disbanded, Gill moved to the state of Kentucky. There he played in the bands Bluegrass Alliance and Boone Creek, the latter of which also featured Ricky Skaggs as a member. Later in 1976, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he briefly joined fiddle player Byron Berline's backing band, Sundance.

In 1978, soft rock band Pure Prairie League was auditioning for new lead singers after their previous vocalist Larry Goshorn departed. Gill attended the auditions at the recommendation of a friend, as he had served as an opening act for the band while in Mountain Smoke. By October 1978, Gill had begun performing in concert as guitarist and vocalist for Pure Prairie League. He appeared on their 1979 album Can't Hold Back in addition to writing several songs on it. During Gill's tenure as lead vocalist, the band had a top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Let Me Love You Tonight"; he also wrote its follow-up "I'm Almost Ready", as well as five other songs on the corresponding album Firin' Up. Of this album, Joe Viglione of AllMusic thought that Gill's contributions to the album were "highly entertaining" and showed more of a country pop and adult contemporary influence than his later works. By comparison, Jim Worbois wrote of Can't Hold Back on the same site, "By this time, they are [Pure Prairie League] in name only as there is no resemblance between this and the original band." Overall, Gill recorded three albums as lead singer of Pure Prairie League.

In 1982, Gill was invited by singer Rodney Crowell to play guitar in his backing band, the Cherry Bombs. Gill had previously been offered the opportunity to do so during the success of "Let Me Love You Tonight" and declined, but chose to accept Crowell's offer the second time because the following singles and albums had not been successful. As a result, he quit Pure Prairie League and was replaced by Gary Burr. His role as guitarist in the Cherry Bombs also led to him briefly playing guitar for Crowell's then-wife, Rosanne Cash. Because of these roles, Gill moved to Nashville, Tennessee, a year later.

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