Vincent Grant Gill was born April 12, 1957, in Norman, Oklahoma, the son of a federal judge and a homemaker. By the time he was in high school, he had become proficient on the banjo and guitar and was playing in his first bluegrass band. After graduation, he turned professional, working with such acts as the Bluegrass Alliance, Boone Creek, Sundance and, most famously, Pure Prairie League. For a time, Gill also toured with Rodney Crowell's high-octane backup band, the Cherry Bombs. In 1983, he signed to RCA Records, where he scored his first solo country hits, among them "Oklahoma Borderline" and "Cinderella."