How Vince Gill Turned a Spousal Spat Into His First No. 1 Hit, “I Still Believe in You”

Vince Gill has been happily married to Amy Grant since 2000. But before he said “I Do” to the popular Christian music artist, he was wed to fellow country singer Sweethearts of the Rodeo’s Janis Oliver.

Gill wrote his first No. 1 song—”I Still Believe In You”—with John Barlow Jarvis following an argument with Oliver. Gill released the song in 1992.

Jarvis told Nashville Hype that he and Gill discussed setting up a co-write backstage at the CMA Awards, which eventually happened on a Sunday at Jarvis’ house.

“(Vince Gill) forgot to tell his wife, and they had a bit of a spat about it, apparently,” Jarvis recalled. “So, he was in the mood to write a make-up song. I pretty much had the music idea fleshed out before he got there. I would say he wrote 90% of the lyrics while I wrote about 90% of the music.”

Jarvis said “I Still Believe In You” didn’t begin as a ballad but as a mid-tempo song with a Fleetwood Mac vibe.

“Vince and his producer Tony Brown wisely slowed it down,” Jarvis said. “It made a big difference!”

Lyrics include: Everybody wants a little piece of my time| But still I put you at the end of the line| How it breaks my heart to cause you this pain| To see the tears you cry fallin’ like rain.

The following year at the Grammy Awards, Gill won trophies for Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance for “I Still Believe in You.” He and Oliver divorced about five years later.

Oliver told The Tennessean that it can be difficult – if not impossible – to hear the song.

Vince Gill Will Play Two Ryman Auditorium Residencies in 2024

“Some songs that come on the radio still break my heart,” she said. “I can pretend like they don’t tug at my heart or make me wistful, but there are some songs I can’t listen to anymore, like ‘I Still Believe in You,’ because of the circumstances around them and what he told me they meant to him. To hear that now is confusing.”

[Get Tickets to See Vince Gill Perform Live at the Ryman]

Gill joined The Grand Ole Opry family in 1991 and went on to notch 18 CMA Awards and 22 Grammy Awards, along with a BMI Icon award. He entered the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

Fifteen years after releasing his first No. 1 song, Al Anderson, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, and Michael McDonald saluted Gill, helping induct him into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Gill will play a four-night residency at Ryman Auditorium Aug. 1-4 and join Grant for their Christmas at the Ryman” dates beginning on November 29.

(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)

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