(Credits: Far Out / Derek Russell)
Sun 14 September 2025 20:00, UK
Eagles have always been a complicated band for anyone to join.
The songs might be iconic and have served as the soundtrack to countless car rides down dusty highways, but there will always be a few people that have to take into consideration all the red tape that comes with joining them. Don Henley ran the band with an iron fist alongside Glenn Frey for years, but he knew that if the band were to keep going, he would need to find the right person to carry those songs whenever they played live.
But the first order of business since the band’s reunion was finding someone who could plug into Don Felder’s guitar parts. Felder wasn’t given the nickname ‘Fingers’ by accident, but once he started clashing with Frey about getting paid less, they were either going to be a four-piece or bring in some fresh blood, and Steuart Smith ended up fitting like a glove. His contributions to songs like ‘Waiting in the Weeds’ helped introduce a new version of the band to the world, but even he admitted he’s never going to be a true Eagle.
There’s a lot of baggage that comes with being in one of the biggest bands in the world, and he knew that there was no point in him trying to be anything more than a hired gun. He could collaborate when he wanted to, but the last thing that he would do is disrupt the beautiful harmonies they were singing. But when Frey fell silent in 2016, it truly felt like the band ended.
Deacon Frey had done a fine job paying tribute to his old man during some Eagles tribute shows, but it was clear that his voice wasn’t always suited to the higher songs his dad sang. They needed someone that was the best of both worlds, and while he was purely country, Vince Gill’s performances with the band made everyone think that he was a member from the very beginning.
Although Gill could sing a handful of his hits onstage, it’s not like he was going to take the opportunity to grandstand, either. He was there to fill the role for someone who wasn’t there anymore, and even when he had some doubts about whether he could join the band, all of that melted away when he heard what Henley said about him.
Because in the frontman’s mind, Eagles wouldn’t have been had Gill not plugged himself into that slot, saying, “Don told me in confidence, ‘You’re the only guy I wanted that I would have done this with,’ which meant the world to me. It’s not something you can dream up and think about and aim for or any of that stuff. [They] said, ‘Would you consider it?’ And I said, ‘When do we leave?’”
That might have been the single quickest ‘yes’ that the band had heard since Timothy B Schmitt agreed to join in the late 1970s, but it’s clear that Gill was overqualified in many respects. Joe Walsh is still one of the most revered guitar players in the world, but Nashville musicians are no slouches, either, and listening to him and Gill play off of each other is a much more even match than you would think.
But a lot of that hard work onstage comes from Gill being absolutely elated to play alongside legends. He was going to go down as a legend of the country world no matter what, but that immaculate voice made him worthy of having a seat in both the country and the rock world with no problem.
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