Chris Stapleton and Ricky Skaggs Honor Vince Gill With a Powerful “Go Rest High on That Mountain” Performance
Few country songs carry the emotional weight of Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High on That Mountain.” On September 22, 2026, Chris Stapleton took on the beloved classic at the Nashville Songwriter Awards, and he had some very special company onstage: Ricky Skaggs, who was also part of the song’s original recording.
The performance came as Gill received the Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award at the ninth annual Nashville Songwriter Awards, presented by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The award recognizes a songwriter whose work has made a significant contribution to the American songbook and inspired the careers of others.
Chris Stapleton Takes on One of Vince Gill’s Most Beloved Songs
Choosing “Go Rest High on That Mountain” for the tribute made perfect sense. The song remains one of Gill’s defining compositions, and its history gives the performance an added layer of meaning.
Gill began writing the song after the 1989 death of country singer Keith Whitley. He eventually returned to it following the death of his older brother, Bob Coen, who died of a heart attack in 1993. Gill recorded the song in 1994 for his album When Love Finds You, and it was released as a single in 1995.
Over the years, the song has become closely associated with funerals, memorial services and tributes. That history makes hearing it in a setting devoted to Gill’s songwriting legacy particularly striking.
Stapleton brought his powerful, unmistakable voice to the song without losing the reflective character that has made it endure for decades. Rather than trying to reinvent the composition, the performance allowed the strength of Gill’s writing to remain at the center.
Ricky Skaggs Adds an Important Connection to the Performance
The tribute became even more meaningful when Ricky Skaggs joined Stapleton on the Ryman stage.
Skaggs has a direct connection to “Go Rest High on That Mountain.” He contributed backing vocals to the original 1994 studio recording alongside Patty Loveless. More than three decades later, he returned to the song for Gill’s Nashville Songwriter Awards tribute.
For the 2026 performance, Skaggs also brought his mandolin to the arrangement, complementing fiddle work from Andrea Zonn. The combination gave the rendition a traditional country and bluegrass character while leaving room for Stapleton’s commanding lead vocal.
The pairing of Stapleton and Skaggs also connected different generations of country music around a song that has remained part of the genre’s emotional vocabulary for more than 30 years.
A Fitting Tribute to Gill’s Songwriting Legacy
The performance was part of an evening centered on the people behind Nashville’s songs, with Gill among the night’s major honorees.
The Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor presented by NSAI. Gill joins previous recipients including ALABAMA in 2025, Alan Jackson in 2024, Bobby Braddock in 2023, Garth Brooks in 2022, Loretta Lynn in 2019, Bill Anderson in 2018 and Willie Nelson in 2013.
Gill’s career has already earned him recognition from many of country music’s major institutions. He was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1991, entered the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007, and received the BMI Icon Award in 2014. In 2025, he was also presented with the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
That makes “Go Rest High on That Mountain” an especially appropriate song for an evening celebrating his work as a songwriter. The composition has outgrown its original release to become one of the songs most closely associated with remembrance and loss in country music.
There was also something refreshing about hearing it in a celebratory setting rather than one centered on grief. The song still carried all of its familiar emotional weight, but this time its purpose was to honor the person who wrote it and the lasting mark he has made on country music.
And with Chris Stapleton leading the performance, Ricky Skaggs returning to a song he helped shape from the beginning, and Andrea Zonn adding fiddle, the tribute brought together some of the genre’s most distinctive musical voices for a fitting celebration of Vince Gill.
@oliviafayemusic
Last night was amazing watching Chris perform “Go Rest High on that Mountain” with with Sonya Isaac, Ricky Skaggs & Andrea Zonn in honor of Vince Gill winning the Kris Kristofferson lifetime achievement award for NSAI 🤍