Vince Gill Gains Legend Status with Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement
Vince Gill might not be done paying tribute to country legends. But it’s time he’s paid tribute as a country legend himself.
If you’re a country fan and been around for a few years, it might be hard to think of performers like Vince Gill, George Strait, and Alan Jackson as oldtimers and legends. These were the guys who you grew up with, who were paying tribute to the oldtimers on their way up. Vince Gill had George Jones riding his John Deere lawnmower in the video for “One More Last Chance,” and sang “Go Rest High On That Mountain” at The Possum’s funeral.
But time has that way of marching on and making us all a little older each year, and now it’s Alan Jackson, George Strait, and Vince Gill who are the oldtimers, with the up-and-comers taking up the charge of paying tribute to them. In 2022 and 2024 respectively, Jackson and Strait were bestowed with the CMA’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, first christened in 2012, and given to Willie himself.
The Willie Nelson award isn’t given out each year, but it will be once again in 2025, with Vince Gill being the honoree Wednesday night (11-19). If there was any question of whether we could consider Vince Gill a “legend,” or just a former radio country star put out to pasture, this Lifetime Achievement Award puts that argument to bed.
Vince Gill’s first label was RCA, who he signed with in 1983 after playing in country rock band Pure Prairie League, and the backing band for Rodney Crowell. Gill first signed with MCA in 1989 when Hall of Fame producer Tony Brown was the President of MCA Nashville. Gill has been with the label ever since. He subsequently released 15 original albums through MCA, resulting in six Multi-Platinum albums, five Platinum albums, and two Gold albums. Gill has sold nearly 20 million albums in the United States.
The award comes on the heels of Gill signing an unprecedented lifetime record deal with MCA. He also in the process of releasing an EP a month for the next year, releasing the latest installment called 50 Years From Home: Secondhand Smoke on November 14th. Already inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (2007), Gill has also found many fans outside of country via his participation as a touring member of The Eagles.
Vince Gill will receive his Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2025 CMAs Wednesday night (11-19) on ABC during a tribute to Gill and his music. Tune into Saving Country Music’s LIVE blog during the broadcast.
November 19, 2025 @ 1:26 pm
Somehow even with all the accolades, it feels like Vince is underappreciated for his contribution to the genre
November 19, 2025 @ 2:08 pm
Vince Gill, in his capacity as blowhard self-advocate, has always reserved a place in my mind dedicated to the sound of one-hand clapping. Or, as otherwise known to all Nashville Holy Men as, He who tooteth not his own horn, the same shall not be tooted.
November 19, 2025 @ 2:52 pm
You want some toast with that jelly?
Vince Gill is a “blowhard self-advocate?” VINCE GILL ?!?
You took a wrong turn at John Rich.
November 21, 2025 @ 4:25 pm
You sir apparently know nothing about music!!!
Vince Gill is one of the best and a good person.
November 19, 2025 @ 3:58 pm
Question to self: What’s the most ridiculous take I can make this evening? See answer above posted @ 2:08 PM.
November 19, 2025 @ 2:38 pm
There’s no one as more deserving than Mr Vince Gill. Truly a legend, an amazing vocalist and guitar player. BRAVO MR GILL!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 19, 2025 @ 2:52 pm
My Dad is Bruce Hinton and signed Vince Gill at MCA. Aside from being a brilliant musician and singer he was and still one of the good guys. A true gentleman
November 20, 2025 @ 9:41 pm
My dad is Bill Ding and signed Chris Gaines. All seven of Mr. Gill’s alter-ego fan club should call me in the event they can’t back into his head tonight. And I hear the ghost of Chet Atkins has issued a warrant of arrest for the sans-Koolaid sanity exhibited by the critic and the “Lucky Sun” dude.
November 19, 2025 @ 3:59 pm
Vince was truly one of the first who got me into Country as an adult and it’ll be pleasure watching him get this award. I’m also loving this weeks EP of his much more than the first as well.
November 19, 2025 @ 6:00 pm
Past winners of this award are Willie Nelson (2012), Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Kris Kristofferson (2019), Charley Pride (2020), Loretta Lynn (2021), Alan Jackson (2022) and George Strait (2024).
If we take it that giving the award to Cash in 2015 was a one-shot anomaly and that the award is otherwise restricted to people who are living, I’ll also assume the pool of potential recipients is actual country music stars–not executives or backing musicians who are not widely famous.
It’s hard to think of anyone who predates Vince Gill who might still be given the award. I can come up with only two older artists who might fill the bill–Ronnie Milsap and–no pun intended–Bill Anderson. Miisap was a major hitmaker and his achievements loom larger because of the lifelong handicap that he surmounted. Ander was not the platinum-selling superstar that the other winners have been, but he was a legitimate artist in his own right and has been highly productive as a host, songwrriter and “ambassador” for the industry in the decades since his time a “major league” artist ended.
November 20, 2025 @ 5:07 am
So well deserved for Vince!
Two names I would put here for future awards are Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart. They both played with bluegrass giants when young, Ricky & Keith Whitley’s collaborations, Ricky’s Country music success then venturing back to Bluegrass, Marty was not as big a success hitwise but has created great music, and he has done so much to preserve and promote the history of Country Music. Two legends!
November 21, 2025 @ 5:30 pm
His dad was a federal judge who got into that business ’cause it let him decide the worth of everyone else. The apple don’t fall far from the tree. Yes sir, thank you for being our humble judge who forgives us for not having coronated you sooner.
Or as Burgess Meredith would say, “WACK ! WACK ! WACK !”
November 22, 2025 @ 11:28 am
ITgeattorp2 true country boys not many around today they all went to the city.LETS KEEP REAL COUNTRY GOING,LIIKE pTHE AWARDS A LOT OF THEM WERNT COUNTRY, LIVE THE
November 24, 2025 @ 5:37 pm
Well “they” call him Vince Gill
and he sings with a trill 💋🌈
but some people know him as “Nancy”