Vince Gill Admits New Eagles Lineup ‘Not As Good As The Original’

By all accounts Vince Gill is killing it onstage these days with the Eagles — but he admits, without the late-Glenn Frey, the best the band can hope for is a loving approximation of its classic sound. Gill — along with Frey's other replacement, his son, Deacon Frey — is featured extensively on the newly released Eagles collection, Live From The Forum MMXVIII (2018).

Ultimate Classic Rock transcribed Gill's recent chat with the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, in which he spoke about the current Eagles lineup, admitting, “It’s different, and it's not as good as the original. I don't sing like Glenn, and I don't pretend to. I see a lot of people making negative comments about me being in that band. I get it. It's my favorite band, too. I don't want to hear me sing 'New Kid In Town,' but the other option is not possible. So I’m just trying to do my part to keep some great songs afloat.”

He went on to reveal, “Don (Henley) told me in confidence, ‘You’re the only guy I wanted, that I would have done this with,’ which meant the world to me. I knew Glenn very well in the ‘80s, (and) we had the same manager when the Eagles had broken up. And Joe (Walsh) and I met at the Crossroads shows. We wanted to do a band like the Traveling Wilburys together, where we might get Michael McDonald, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, or something and have this cool little jam band, y'know?”

Vince Gill spoke about the “pinch me” moment of being asked to join your favorite band: “This tragedy happened with the passing of Glenn, and most people thought, them included, that they wouldn’t do it again. And so they said, 'Would you consider it?' And I said, 'When do we leave?’ It’s always been my favorite band. . . it’s mind-blowing – every night I’m sitting up there, playing these songs, going, 'Oh, there’s 'New Kid In Town,' there’s 'Lyin’ Eyes,' there’s 'I Can’t Tell You Why.'”

Joe Walsh explained to us why — out of the gate — Vince Gill was such a perfect choice for the Eagles: “We were looking for a special kind of voice, of course, like Glenn had, so that the chemistry is there. You can't just get anybody — and that's the chemistry I'm talking about.”