It isn’t often that someone earns the comparison of both basketball legend Michael Jordan and buxom legend Dolly Parton, but that’s the exact descriptor Vince Gill chose for a former performance partner who he said he is “crazy about.” (And as much as we’d love for this comparison to come from their skills on the court or around a cast iron skillet, this star got their title for an even more captivating, room-commanding reason.)
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The naysayers, Gill argues, are just being uptight.
Vince Gill Says He’s “Crazy About” His Former Performance Partner
Although it’s hard to imagine a world where Taylor Swift isn’t one of the most successful pop stars of all time, for a brief spell in the late 2000s, the curly-haired singer was still cutting her teeth as a country artist. Tracks like “Teardrops On My Guitar” and “Picture to Burn” captured the intense emotions of teenage years and beyond behind a radio-sensible country twang. Swift’s sophomore album, Fearless, from 2008, has the impressive title of being the most decorated album in country music history. At this stage of her career, Swift was firmly planted in the country music industry.
While there, she collaborated with many artists of the same genre, including the “nicest guy in Nashville,” Vince Gill. During a February 2025 interview with the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Gill recalled performing with Swift, Alison Krauss, and others at the CMA Awards, where they performed an acoustic rendition of “Red.” “She’s awesome,” Gill gushed. “I’m crazy about her. I’ve always been crazy about her. She’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She is stunningly beautiful. There’s just a handful of people that have that charisma, that thing. They own a room. Dolly Parton, she owns a room.”
“It’s fascinating to watch,” Gill added. “I’m a wallflower.” Whether Swift, Parton, Michael Jackson, or NBA star Michael Jordan, Gill said he’s constantly in awe of the way these celebrities effortlessly capture everyone’s attention simply with their presence.
Taylor Swift Seems To Be Taking A Page Out Of Vince Gill’s Book
Besides the fact that her music is just demonstrably likable, it’s unsurprising that Vince Gill would be a fan of Taylor Swift. The two artists seem to share a kindred spirit, both in terms of the reputations they’ve garnered from their colleagues and fans and the trajectory of their careers. Gill has long been dubbed the “nicest guy in Nashville,” and Swift has plenty of glowing reputation reviews from the hundreds upon hundreds of collaborative artists and crew members she’s worked with and employed over the years.
After all, nice people tend to like nice people, and Gill’s opinion of Swift has held steady over the decades she’s been in the industry. “She’s hitting the big home run,” Gill said back in 2013. “She has a great way of connecting with people, and I love seeing that. I love her to death. She gets beat up a lot, unfairly so. I’m actually a great supporter of hers.”
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for CMHOF
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