Vince Gill

Induction Year: 2005

Birth Name: Vincent Grant Gill

Birth Date: 04-12-1957

Place of Birth: Norman, Oklahoma

As a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, Vince Gill has broadened country music's appeal by mixing its traditional values with pop smarts. Along the way, he has sold over 26 million albums and racked up many awards, including 18 CMAs, 20 Grammys (the most of any male country performer) and membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Gill was playing professionally by the time he graduated high school, and after a stint in Ricky Skaggs' band Boone Creek, went on to front Pure Prairie League in 1979. Chart success followed the next year with a Top 40 hit, the Gill-penned "I'm Almost Ready."

In the early '80s, while playing in Rodney Crowell's band the Cherry Bombs, Gill met Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr., both of whom would produce many of his future hit records. In 1983, Gill finally moved to Nashville, and began his long, steady ascent to the top.

It was 1989's When I Call Your Name album that broke open the gates. The platinum-seller yielded four hits, with the title track earning the CMA Single of the Year and a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. While the next two decades brought increasingly bigger sales, singles and awards — he was won 27 BMI Awards for songwriting — Gill found time to explore new vistas. These included recording a duet with Barbra Streisand, guesting on an Alice Cooper album, and releasing These Days (2006), a ground-breaking four-disc set that gear-shifted through many musical moods, featuring guests such as Guy Clark, Diana Krall and Emmylou Harris.

Gill's songs have also been recorded by other artists, including Alabama, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Louvin and John Denver. Since 2006, Gill and his wife Amy Grant have staged a popular annual Christmas Extravaganza at the Ryman Auditorium. And in 2010, Gill became a member of the Time Jumpers, a Western swing ensemble of top Nashville session players.

Gill has the distinction of being the only songwriter in history to win three consecutive CMA Awards for Song of the Year, 1991's "When I Call Your Name," 1992's "Look at Us" and 1993's "I Still Believe in You." His fourth CMA Song of the Year win occurred in 1996 with "Go Rest High on That Mountain." No other country songwriter has been as honored. He also a five-time Male Vocalist winner (1991-1995) and a two-time Entertainer of the Year (1993-1994).

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Song Catalog

 

"A Little More Love"

Vince Gill1997 #2 country
 

"Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away"

(written with Pete Wasner)

Vince Gill1992 #1 country
 

"Feels Like Love"

Vince Gill2000 #6 country

"Go Rest High on That Mountain"

CMA Song of the Year, Grammy Best Country Song

Vince Gill1995 #14 country
Michael English1998 
 

"Here We Are"

(written with Beth Nielsen Chapman)

Alabama1991 #2 country
 

"High Lonesome Sound"

Vince Gill & Alison Krauss1996 #12 country

"I Still Believe in You"

(written with John Barlow Jarvis)

CMA Song of the Year, Grammy Best Country Song

Vince Gill1992 #1 country, #30 adult contemporary
 

"I'm Almost Ready"

Pure Prairie League1980 #34 pop
Leona Williams1981 #54 country
 

"If It Weren't for Him"

(written with Rosanne Cash)

Vince Gill & Rosanne Cash1985 #10 country
 

"If You Ever Have Forever in Mind"

(written with Troy Seals)

Vince Gill1998 #5 country, #60 pop

"Look at Us"

(written with Max D. Barnes)

CMA Song of the Year

Vince Gill1991 #4 country
 

"Never Knew Lonely"

Vince Gill1990 #3 country
 

"No Future in the Past"

(written with Carl Jackson)

Vince Gill1993 #3 country
 

"Oklahoma Borderline"

(written with Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark)

Vince Gill1985 #9 country
 

"Oklahoma Swing"

(written with Tim DuBois)

Vince Gill & Reba McEntire1990 #13 country
 

"One More Last Chance"

(written with Gary Nicholson)

Vince Gill1993 #1 country
 

"Pocket Full of Gold"

(written with Brian Allsmiller)

Vince Gill1991 #7 country
 

"Take Your Memory with You"

Vince Gill1992 #2 country
 

"The Reason Why"

(written with Gary Nicholson)

Vince Gill2006 #28 country

"Tryin' to Get Over You"

Vince Gill1994 #1 country, #88 pop
 

"Turn Me Loose"

Vince Gill1984 #39 country
 

"What the Cowgirls Do"

(written with Reed Nielsen)

Vince Gill1994 #2 country

"When I Call Your Name"

(written with Tim DuBois)

CMA Song of the Year

Vince Gill1990 #2 country
 

"When Love Finds You"

(written with Michael Omartian)

Vince Gill1994 #3 country
 

"Whenever You Come Around"

(written with Pete Wasner)

Vince Gill1994 #2 country, #72 pop
 

"Which Bridge to Cross (Which Bridge to Burn)"

(written with Bill Anderson)

Vince Gill1995 #4 country
 

"Worlds Apart"

(written with Bob DiPiero)

Vince Gill1996 #5 country
 

"You and You Alone"

Vince Gill1997 #8 country
 

"You Better Think Twice"

(written with Reed Nielsen)

Vince Gill1995 #2 country
 

"Young Man's Town"

Vince Gill2003 #44 country

Other Media

Vince Gill

Induction Year: 2005