A new version of Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain” is out, this time with a third verse. Gill recently recorded an updated version of the song, 30 years after the song was first released in 1995.
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According to a press release, Gill used all the original tracks for the song, adding only his vocals for the new verse.
Gill was first inspired to write “Go Rest High On That Mountain” after the tragic death of Keith Whitley in 1989. But it wasn’t until his brother Bob died in 1993 that Gill finally finished the song.
“I wrote this song, and I didn’t have any idea if anybody would want to hear it, or like it,” Gill admits (via Songfacts). “All I wanted to do was grieve for [my brother] and celebrate his life.”
Gill was performing at the Ryman Auditorium in 2019 when he announced he had added a third verse.
“In all these years of singing that song, truthfully, it felt just the slightest bit incomplete to me,” Gill said at the time. “I always thought it needed to tie itself up in some way.”
Why Vince Gill Added a Third Verse To “Go Rest High On That Mountain”
The third verse says, “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.“
When revealing he had a third verse, Gill concedes he wasn’t sure he would ever record a new version
“I don’t really know if I have any intention of recording it with this third verse,” Gill said at the time (via Taste of Country). “I was just sitting there thinking last night that if I take one of the [guitar] solos out of the original record and sing the third verse there, it would work. So I don’t have any idea of what’s to come of this other than I just did it. I’m going to start singing that last verse because I think it makes the song a lot better. Maybe I’m foolish, but I don’t think so.”
Gill recently performed the new version with Lainey Wilson, as part of the In Memoriam segment at the 2025 Emmy Awards. The segment honored celebrities, producers, directors, and more who have passed away in the past year, including Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer, and more.
Photo by Ed Rode/Getty Images
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