What’s it been like having Vince Gill in the Eagles for the past eight years?
“Well, between you and me — it’s terrifying,” Joe Walsh tells us about the man who will also be part of his ninth VetsAid concert on Saturday in Wichita, Kansas. And he means that in the best way possible.
An elite vocalist and guitarist of longstanding — with previous tenures in Pure Prairie League, Rodney Crowell’s Notorious Cherry Bombs and the Time Jumpers — Gill became part of the Eagles in 2017 in place of co-founder Glenn Frey following his death the previous year. (Frey’s son Deacon also joined the group at the time.)
“Vince has been a really good friend of the band for a long time,” Walsh explained at the time. “He grew up listening to the Eagles, and we thought about him having that kind of voice.
“So all of that put together, we figured we would at least try it and see where it went. We worked on it and assembled everything and rehearsed it and thought it through... and it was just magic, it really was. It was received wonderfully and the energy that we all have is very, very healing.
“I think Glenn would be proud of this. We’ve got a pretty good lineup across the front of the stage in terms of guitar players, and it’s working really, really well.”
And while he jests about the “terrifying” part, Walsh is nothing if not a big fan of looking across that stage and seeing Gill there.
“He’s just a guy,” Walsh says, “but, boy, he plugged right in with the vocals and playing. I feel like I’m related to him — we’re related but not to each other, really. I’m speechless when he sings. To join a band when he hadn’t been in a band for 30 years, and trying to replace Glenn...not easy. We told him, ‘No, we want you to be Vince,’ and that helped a lot.
“And he tells me I make him nervous, too, so it works out really good.”
Gill — who will receive the Country Music Association’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday, November 19, in Nashville — still sounds surprised at being tapped for his spot in the Eagles.
“It’s something you couldn’t have dreamed up. It’s just nothing I ever thought would be a possibility,” he says. “Sadly it came about through the passing of Glenn, and he was an old friend; I actually knew all those guys fairly well over the years, so it does make a lot of sense. And I just love doing it.
“I hope I made it easy for them because I knew going in what the chair called for, and I’m professional enough to understand my role, being in a band, and what they needed was a singer. They had plenty of great guitar players, so they didn’t have to shove a bunch of guitar things my way to make me happy. It’s never been an issue.”
Seven years in, Gill adds, “I think the biggest thing I’ve gained is the affirmation once again, even at this age, of how important songs are, how, when they’re great, they seem to be the great separator for artists who have timeless longevity.
“The Eagles seem to have that because they have great songs...You just sit there every night and go down the set list — ‘Oh, there’s “Lyin’ Eyes.” Oh, there’s “Hotel California.” Oh, there’s “Desperado.” Here comes “Life in the Fast Lane.”’ You’re shaking your head at great song after great song after great song. That’s what they’re about.”
The band will be resuming its residency at Sphere in Las Vegas early next year, playing shows in January, February and March — with, Walsh predicts, more gigging on the horizon.
“I know we’re not done yet,” he says.
Meanwhile he’s ready for this year’s VetsAid, a charity that’s so far raised more than $4 million for regional veterans’ support organizations in the cities it’s played. He and Gill will be joined at Wichita’s INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Nathaniel Rateliff and Ryan Bingham & the Texas Gentlemen. The show will be streamed live via veeps.com.
Walsh — who’s hoping to release some new solo music during 2026 — will also be raising money for VetsAid via the Life’s Been Good auction, taking place with Julien’s Auctions on December 16 and 17 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood.
The event includes more than 800 items spanning Walsh's career, from his time with the James Gang through solo hits like "Rocky Mountain Way" and his tenure with the Eagles. Among the selections are plenty of guitars — including the 1966 Framus Strato Gold De Luxe 12-string electric guitar he used on the 1972 Barnstorm album and the Duesenberg signature guitar he played onstage in 2014 and 2015 — as well as amplifiers, stage attire and other equipment, such as the API console from the Record Plant mobile recording truck.
Bidding is open via JuliensAuctions.com, and nearly two dozen items are on display through December 3 at the Times Square Hard Rock Cafe in New York City.
Gill, meanwhile, has just released Secondhand Smoke, the second in a year-long series of EPs dubbed 50 Years From Home to commemorate the half-century since he left his native Norman, Okla., for a career that includes 22 Grammy Awards, the most of any male solo country artist. The seven-song set features songwriting collaborations with Ashley McBryde, Mary Gauthier and Derrick Southerland, while The War & Treaty joins Gill on the track “March On, March On.”
