Jenny Gill, the daughter of famous country singer Vince Gill, recently shared a special memory on the CMT Giants TV show to honor her dad. Vince Gill was a huge star in the 1990s, winning many awards like 18 CMA Awards and 22 Grammy Awards. He’s even in the Country Music Hall of Fame! But out of everything, being a great dad to his daughters, Jenny and Corrina, might be what he’s most proud of.
Jenny loves telling funny stories about growing up with her dad on social media. You can tell she got his great sense of humor! One time, she remembered how fans used to drive by their house to take pictures when she was a kid. It bugged her back then. She said, “One day, I was outside riding my bike with my friends, and a car stopped. They asked, ‘Hey kids, do you know where Vince Gill lives?’ I said, ‘Yep, right there!’ and pointed to my neighbor’s house.” Jenny laughed as she watched the fans take pictures of the wrong place, which made her so happy.
But the story Jenny told at the CMT Giants show wasn’t funny—it was sweet and made people cry. Jenny, who Vince had with his ex-wife Janis Oliver, talked about a time when she was 6 years old. She wanted to sing in her school talent show and asked her dad, who’s amazing at playing guitar, to help her. Of course, he said yes. They practiced a lot for the show, which was on a Saturday night. Then, Vince got a big phone call. It was the Grand Ole Opry inviting him to perform for the first time—on that same Saturday night!
Jenny said her dad asked, “This Saturday night?” Then he told the Opry he couldn’t do it. Instead of going to the Opry, he kept his promise to Jenny and played guitar at her school while she sang “You Are My Sunshine.” That moment stuck with her forever.
Later that night on the show, Vince told the rest of the story. He said, “Here’s the best part. Years later, when Jenny was getting married to Josh, we couldn’t decide on a song for our father-daughter dance at the wedding. Jenny called me and said, ‘I’ve got the perfect song.’ I said, ‘Me too!’ We both picked ‘You Are My Sunshine.’”
Missing that first Opry invitation didn’t stop Vince’s career. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in August 1991, just 7 years after moving to Nashville. It’s clear he’s not only a great singer but an even better dad!
