Vince Gill has been named this year’s recipient of the Country Music Association’s annual Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented at the 59th CMA Awards on November 19th.
Before collecting the trophy, Gill will be honored with a special musical tribute featuring performers who have yet to be announced.
Previous winners include Willie Nelson, who climbed George Strait in 2012 (before it was named after him, of course) at last year’s ceremony. It is not distributed every year. In the years leading up to Wilson and Strait, the award has been given to Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash (posthumously), Charlie Pride, Kenny Rogers, and Kris Kristofferson.
“Vince represents the best of what country music stands for,” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern said in a statement. “He is a true trailblazer who gives back to the community, honors the roots of our genre, and continues to share his talent with fans around the world. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and has won one CMA Award. As an eight-time award winner and 12-time CMA Awards host, we are honored to celebrate the influential artists who remain a vibrant presence in our industry and are deeply woven into the fabric of our format.”
Even more so than other artists who have received lifetime honors, Gill has a significant history with the CMA, as he is arguably still the person most associated with hosting the awards program, at least to those with fond memories. The bubbly singer hosted the CMA Awards every year from 1992 to 2003, tying the concert record.
Of course, he hopes to achieve more than just that institutional memory by serving as a shoot-in for this honor. Since becoming a huge star in the genre around 1990, Gil has become one of the most revered figures in country music history, achieving long chart success and supporting accolades, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. His shelf includes 22 Grammy Awards and 18 CMA Awards.
Gil’s current nighttime job is to perform with the Eagles at Sphere’s intermittent gigs in Las Vegas, singing songs related to the late Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner, as he has since 2017, the year after Frey’s death.
He also continues to manage his solo career, recently re-signing what’s being described as a “lifetime record deal” with MCA Records, something no major label has promised to any other high-profile artist in anyone’s memory.
At the time, it was announced that he would be releasing a series of EPs on the recently reformed label, the first of which, “I Gave You Everything I Had,” was released on October 17th. Prior to that, he most recently released a tribute record with steel player Paul Franklin in 2023 called Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & the Cherokee Cowboys (see Variety’s interview with him about that project here).
The 59th Annual CMA Awards will air live on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 19 and on Hulu the following day. Laney Wilson is hosting this year’s show and is one of the leading contenders, along with Megan Moloney, Ella Langley and Zach Topp. If the CMA happens to be looking for a modern hitmaker or genre veteran to pay homage to Gill, that’s a rich field in itself.
