Vince Gill Reminisces About Hermosa

Vince Gill received the 2,478th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday, the latest honor in a career already distinguished by 20 Grammy Awards, 18 County Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year twice, and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Gill's wife, singer-songwriter Amy Grant, and singer Reba McEntire joined him in speaking at the ceremony next to Hard Rock Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard. Gill's star is one away from Grant's.

The ceremony came five days before the release of the first studio album of the Western swing-country group The Time Jumpers, which Gill joined in 2010. The Oklahoman joked during the ceremony about being a Southern California transplant.

"The whole time I lived down in Hermosa Beach, I was here for about eight years, I tried as hard as I could to fit in, but they still called me a tourist the whole time I lived here," he said. "But I hold no grudge. And I'm grateful for the fact that I can call this beautiful part of the Earth a home."

Gill was born April 12, 1957, in Norman, Oklahoma. His parents encouraged him to learn to play the guitar and banjo, which he did, along with the bass, mandolin, dobro and fiddle. While in high school, he performed in the bluegrass band Mountain Smoke, which built a strong local following and opened a concert for Pure Prairie League.

After graduating from high school in 1975, Gill moved to Louisville, Kentucky, to be part of the band Bluegrass Alliance. After a brief time in Ricky Skaggs' Boone Creek band, Gill moved to Los Angeles and joined Sundance, a bluegrass group fronted by fiddler Byron Berline.

Gill joined Pure Prairie League in 1979 as lead singer, recording three albums with it, the first of which yielded the top 10 pop hit "Let Me Love You Tonight" in 1980. Gill left the group in 1981, joining Rodney Crowell's backing band the Cherry Bombs. It was then that he met Tony Brown and Emory Gordon Jr., both of whom would later produce many of his solo albums.

Gill signed with MCA Records in 1983. His debut mini-album "Turn Me Loose" was released the following year. It included his first charting solo single, "Victim of Life's Circumstances." Gill would release two more albums for the label, "The Things That Matter" in 1985 and "The Way Back Home" in 1987.

Gill signed with MCA Records in 1989. The title cut of the first album he released for it, "When I Call Your Name," brought Gill his first Grammy, for best male country vocal performance, and first CMA Award, for single of the year.

Gill's other albums include "Pocket Full of Gold" (1991), "I Still Believe in You"(1992), "When Love Finds You" (1992), "Let There Be Peace on Earth" (1993), "High Lonesome Sound" (1996), "The Key" (1998), "Breath of Heaven: A Christmas Collection" (1998), all of which reached platinum status, "Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye" (2000), "'Tis the Season" (2000), "Next Big Thing" (2003), "These Days" (2006) and "Guitar Singer" (2011).

Gill co-hosted the CMA Awards in 1992 and would host them for 12 consecutive years, setting a record for the most consecutive times hosting a televised awards show.