Vince Gill Joins The Eagles…Temporarily?
“Glenn was the one who started it all. He was the spark plug, the man with the plan.
He had an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a work ethic that wouldn’t quit. He was funny, bullheaded, mercurial, generous, deeply talented and driven … It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it.”
That was the Eagles‘ Don Henley upon the death of bandmate Glenn Frey early last year and there’s no doubt he was right. The proverbial show must go on, however, and it’s arguable that the remainder of the band made as good a decision as they possibly could to fill the void from a musical aspect. Vince Gill, along with Frey’s son Deacon, will join the band for The Classic West and The Classic East concerts in Los Angeles and New York next month, according to the Los Angeles Times. The pair will share lead vocal duty on the songs Glenn Frey sang with the Eagles.
The Eagles call on family — and Vince Gill — to carry on without Glenn Frey for Classic West-East shows https://t.co/5fwjj3KE36
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 1, 2017
“In my mind, I always thought I’d have made a good Eagle,” Vince quipped in an interview with the newspaper. “But in a million years, I never would have seen this coming. It’s pretty surreal. I turned 60 recently, and to get to be a part of this amazing legacy of songs, that’s the greatest part of all this for me.”
The new lineup could last beyond the July shows, but the band isn’t getting ahead of itself. “We’re just going to see how it goes,” Henley offered in the interview. “We have every reason to believe it’ll go just fine. Then it’s [manager Irving Azoff’s] ball.”
On the possibility of recording together, “There’s a lot of pressure on us right now,” Henley explained. “We’re not too keen on adding to that pressure. I’m sure Irving [Azoff] is going to bring it up at some point … I’m not saying that’s not going to happen. I’m just saying nobody’s brought it up yet.”
Read the entire story based on interviews conducted after recent rehearsal sessions in the Los Angeles Times here. The shows are set for July 15 and 16 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and July 29 and 30 at Citi Field in New York.
Teddy McDonald is a fun-lovin’ country music fan man living in Nashville, Tennessee.
