Vince Gill

One of the most popular and most recorded singers of the past quarter-century, Vince Gill has become the measure of excellence in country music. His vocal performances are spellbinding, his songwriting emotionally powerful and his guitar-playing world-class. Gill complements these stellar talents with a quick and easy wit and a generosity of spirit that is legendary. To those who know him best, though, he’s “just Vince,” a nice, regular guy who’s always up for a good laugh and another round of golf.

Vincent Grant Gill was born April 12, 1957 in Norman, Oklahoma. His mother and father encouraged him to learn to play guitar and banjo, which he did, eventually adding bass, mandolin, dobro and fiddle to his instrumental array.

Gill achieved his big breakthrough in 1990 with “When I Call Your Name.” That heart-rending lament won both the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year award and a Grammy for Best Country Male Vocal Performance. Since then, Gill has won 17 more CMA honors, including Song of the Year four times. His Grammy awards now total 20. In the process of earning these distinctions, he has sold more than 26 million albums. His high, pure tenor voice and unerring sense of harmony have caused dozens of artists—from Reba McEntire to Dolly Parton to Barbra Streisand—to embrace him as a duet partner.

Gill co-hosted the nationally telecast CMA Awards for the first time in 1992. He continued to host “Country Music’s Biggest Night™” for 12 consecutive years, ending his run in 2003. Gill not only set a record for the most times anyone has consecutively hosted a televised award show, but also raised the bar for other television awards emcees via his deft ad libs and gentle humor and his evident respect for his peers and the audience.

In 2006, Gill released These Days, a groundbreaking, four-CD set that featured 43 new recordings of diverse musical styles. Each album in the set explored a different musical mood – traditional country, rock, pop and bluegrass.

Gill is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. An avid golfer, he helped create the annual Vince Gill Pro-Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament (“The Vinny”) in 1993 in order to help support junior golf programs throughout Tennessee. Besides being known for his talent as a performer, musician and songwriter, Gill is one of country music’s most active and effective humanitarians. He has participated in hundreds of charitable events throughout his career. In 2006, the Academy of Country Music honored him as its Humanitarian of The Year.

In August 2007, the Country Music Association inducted Gill into its gallery of immortals, the Country Music Hall of Fame.