The singer Don Henley called the best fit for Eagles: “He’s great in the band”
Anyone would have had second thoughts when Don Henley announced that the Eagles were going to continue after Glenn Frey passed away.
Frey was the one who formed the idea of the band with Henley back in the day, and even if Henley managed to get a massive solo career out of the deal, the thought of them continuing without one of their leaders almost felt too wrong if they didn’t find the right people. But Henley wasn’t going to find any old, unknown singer to replace an icon like Frey.
In fact, the Eagles had already been in a state of change well before Frey passed away. The band of brothers mentality had started to go out the window after Don Felder started to complain about how he was getting paid less, but the band could at least find a way to wrap up their tours with him before finally making Long Road Out of Eden. It wasn’t their finest hour in the world, and even Henley felt that parts of the record weren’t exactly perfect from back to front, but what it did give them was some new blood into the mix.
Steuart Smith may not know firsthand what it was like to be an Eagle back in the day, but musically speaking, he fit like a glove when he first joined. He was the one putting together masterful songs like ‘Waiting in the Weeds’, and while Henley was the one who seemed most enthused about having him on board back in the day, getting someone to replace Frey was going to be a little bit tricky.
Not everyone can pull off his laid-back demeanour every single time he sang, and even when looking at the way that Deacon Frey did service to his old man, Henley figured that there needed to be some new players in the mix. Asking a kid to suddenly front one of the biggest bands in the world isn’t really that fair, and when you look at how they have continued on with Vince Gill, you can definitely hear them moving in the right direction.
After all, Gill was one of the finest country singers of his generation, and since Deacon could sound a little bit too gruff on some of their songs, Gill was there to offset everything. His renditions of tunes like ‘New Kid in Town’ were phenomenal, and after spending a few weeks on the road with the band, Henley felt that there was no one else he would have rather had at the front of the stage with the rest of them.
Joe Walsh was already keeping the good vibes rolling when he played his tunes, but Gill seemed to slide into Frey’s slot better than anyone ever could, with Henley saying, “Vince, of course, is Vince. I call him ‘The Mayor of Nashville’, and he’s deeply loved here – he got a big ovation when we played here. He’s a pro’s pro, and he can do it all – he can play, he can sing, he fits in, and it’s been great having them both in the band. [Vince and Deacon] sing the songs that are best suited to their voices.”
But what’s even crazier is knowing what Gill could do when he has a Telecaster in his hands. Any average rock and roll fan might have known him for making some of the more syrupy ballads of his career before soaring with the band, but when you look at how he approaches playing solos with Walsh, there’s a good chance that he could push himself even further if he wanted to, any time he was working alongside his bandmates.
Then again, Gill was never the sort to grandstand every single time that he performed with the best country rock band of all time. He knew that he was doing a service since Frey wasn’t there anymore, and while it will never truly be the same, the fact that they are carrying on and holding their own is down to Henley picking the right guy.
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