Vince Gill Reveals the Surprising Reason Christmas is His Favorite Time of Year

Christmas is Vince Gill’s favorite time of year, but not for the reasons one might think. The singer, along with his wife, Amy Grant, once again kicked off the season by performing a series of shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, which wrapped up earlier this week. But beyond the music, and beyond the presents, and beyond all the parties and festivities that help usher in the end of the year, Gill says it’s his wife’s holiday spirit that makes Christmas so special for him.

“Christmas means safe,” Gill shared on the Today show. “I feel safe, with [my wife] right here, and it’s the best feeling in the whole world.”

Gill admits he was a bit of a Scrooge for many years, until he saw how much Grant came alive at Christmas time.

“This is where she really shines, this time of year, these songs, this spirit,” he adds. “There’s a real spirit around Christmas that she has over anybody I’ve ever met. Me, not so much. I just like to get to stand beside her, and play a little guitar and cheer her on, so that’s a good feeling.”

Apparently, at least some of Grant’s Christmas spirit has rubbed off on her husband. The gospel singer says that watching Gill perform their Ryman shows each year makes her love him even more.

“When you see somebody doing something they love, you fall in love with them all over again,” says Grant. “He might laugh and joke and say he’s not wild about doing all the crooner songs, but he kills them. And then he starts playing guitar, and everybody levitates. He’s got a rare gift, and I get to stand right next to him and go, ‘Well I’m crazy about you. I’d stalk you if I wasn’t married to you.”

While Gill and Grant certainly splurge on presents for each other over the holidays, Gill’s favorite present will still be the one he got when he was a young boy.

“I was ten, and I got a guitar, my first one,” recalls Vince. “I played my dad’s all up to that point. There was a gift that lasted my whole life.”

Grant released a holiday album, Tennessee Christmas, last year, which features a duet on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” with her husband. The record is available at Amazon and iTunes.