Vince Gill, a defining figure of ’90s country music, has shared his insights on the genre’s transformation from the ’80s to the ’90s. Gill, who scored his first No. 1 hit in 1992 with “I Still Believe in You,” has since amassed 22 GRAMMYs, eight ACM Awards, and 18 CMA Awards. His long career, beginning in 1978, gives him a unique perspective on country music’s evolution.
In an interview , Gill discussed how the ’90s represented a peak period for country music. He noted that the era was marked by unprecedented visibility and success for the genre, with dedicated country music channels and a booming industry. “The ‘90s were such a powerful stretch because everything aligned,” Gill explained. “There were a couple of channels devoted just to country music—something that had never happened before—tons of record companies, tons of artists, tons of people selling millions of records. It was by far the most visible and successful stretch in the history of country music in terms of numbers.”
Despite the era’s success, Gill revealed that his personal preference lies with the folkier sounds of the ’50s and ’60s. “That’s just a matter of what I like,” he said. He reflected on how nostalgia often colors our view of past music: “We revere our past and think, ‘Oh, that was the greatest stuff ever.’ But in every stretch of creativity, there were a lot of great records and a lot of bad records. With time, we’ve forgotten so many of the bad records and the bad songs. We only remember the great ones.”
