Vince Gill is sharing a new version of one of his best-ever songs. Three decades after the country singer released his Grammy-winning track “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” he’s shared an extended version of the song.
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The release, which was announced on Gill’s Instagram, is in honor of the song’s 30-year anniversary.
“30 years ago, Vince Gill released ‘Go Rest High On That Mountain’,” the post read. “Today, he released the extended version with the third verse you’ve only been able to hear live… until now.”
According to The Boot, Gill began writing “Go Rest High On That Mountain” after Keith Whitley died in 1989. However, the outlet reported that Gill didn’t finish the track until his brother died years later.
Why Vince Gill Added a New Verse to “Go Rest High On That Mountain”
During a 2019 performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Gill revealed that he’d added a verse to the song.
“In all these years of singing that song, truthfully it felt just the slightest bit incomplete to me,” Gill told the crowd, per the outlet. “I always thought it needed to tie itself up in some way.”
Gill proceeded to play the song with the new verse, which goes, “You’re safely home in the arms of Jesus / Eternal life, my brother’s found / The day will come I know I’ll see him / In that sacred place, on that holy ground.“
After debuting the new verse, Gill admitted that messing with an already well-received track was a risk.
“Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Gill told People, per The Boot. “Yeah, ‘Leave it alone, you idiot!’ That should be my mantra. But in my heart, I think this makes it better.”
Though it’s been six years since Gill first performed the verse, fans have not been able to download a version of “Go Rest High On That Mountain” with the extra lyrics until now.
Gill will perform the new version of the song with Lainey Wilson at the 2025 Emmy Awards on Sept. 14. The country stars will sing the track during the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment.
Photo by Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images
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