The Eagles played their first concert without Joe Walsh in 51 years in January when the guitarist was taken down by the flu. Vince Gill, who joined the Eagles in 2017 following the death of Glenn Frey, says the band considered all options, including canceling the show that night at the Sphere in Las Vegas, adding some of Gill’s songs to the set, and having him sing Walsh’s hits. They went with the latter decision, and Gill put his own melodic spin on Walsh signatures like “Life’s Been Good” and “In the City.”
One man, however, wasn’t happy. In a new interview on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, Gill says he was being loudly heckled by an unsatisfied fan. “I had one guy over on my right that was just giving me the business. He was so mad that Joe wasn’t there, and he’s taking it out on me,” Gill says.
Even Don Henley, who emerged from behind his drum kit to welcome the audience early in the night, caught flak.
“Don came out to talk for the first time. We had done three songs, and there’s obviously no Joe, and some guy screams, ‘Where’s Joe?!’” Gill recalls. “Don looked at him and said, ‘Shut up and I’ll tell you.’”
Eventually, other Eagles fans had enough of the heckler, according to Gill. “Finally, the crowd turned on him,” he says. “A guy in the crowd…grabbed him and said, ‘If you don’t shut up, I’m going to beat your ass.’”
The Eagles, with Gill and Walsh, continue their residency at the Sphere into April. They’ll also play a series of tour dates in May at stops including New Orleans JazzFest and Vanderbilt University’s FirstBank Stadium in Nashville.
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