Jennifer Nettles honored the victims of 9/11 with a deeply emotional performance of Vince Gill’s Go Rest High on That Mountain during the 25th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony in New York City.

The Sugarland singer performed the beloved country ballad on Friday, September 11, at the official memorial service, standing before families of the 2,977 people killed in the attacks. The emotional weight of the moment was clear as Nettles sang a song that has become closely associated with grief, loss and remembrance.

After the ceremony, Nettles opened up about how difficult it was to perform in front of so many people carrying such painful memories. She said it is always hard to sing while holding so much emotion, explaining that “emotion catches in your throat” and that the voice sits “between the head and the heart.”

Nettles added that she still had to sing through the sadness because that was what the people in front of her needed. She also thanked the musicians who accompanied her during the performance.

The song carried decades of grief before Nettles brought it to the 9/11 memorial

Go Rest High on That Mountain already had a deeply personal history before Nettles sang it for the 9/11 families.

Vince Gill began writing the song in 1989 after the death of country singer Keith Whitley, but he could not finish it at the time. He eventually completed it in 1993 after his older brother Bob died of a heart attack.

Gill released the song in 1995, and it went on to become one of country music’s most recognizable songs about loss. It has since been performed at funerals and memorials for firefighters, soldiers and many others.

The Library of Congress selected Go Rest High on That Mountain for the National Recording Registry this year, recognizing its cultural and historical importance to American music.

Nettles’ choice therefore carried a powerful connection to the ceremony. Gill had written the song while grieving people he loved, and Nettles was now singing those words for families who had spent 25 years grieving their own loved ones.

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From a small-town Georgia singer to Sugarland star

The performance also came as Nettles celebrated another milestone. Born September 12, 1974, in Douglas, Georgia, she turned 52 just one day after the 9/11 anniversary ceremony.

Nettles grew up singing at school events, in her Southern Baptist church and in community theater. While studying Spanish and anthropology at Agnes Scott College, she formed Soul Miner’s Daughter with Cory Jones before creating the Jennifer Nettles Band in 1999.

Her biggest breakthrough came in 2002, when she joined Kristian Bush and Kristen Hall to form Sugarland. After Hall left the group in 2006, Nettles and Bush continued as a duo and became one of country music’s most successful acts.

Sugarland has released six albums and earned five No. 1 songs on the Billboard country chart, including All I Want To Do, Already Gone and Want To. The duo has also won three Grammy Awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards and six Country Music Association Awards.

Nettles later expanded her career beyond Sugarland. She scored another major success with Bon Jovi on the country version of Who Says You Can’t Go Home and launched a solo career, with her 2014 album That Girl debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart.

She has also appeared on television and Broadway, including roles in The Righteous Gemstones, The Bondsman, Chicago and Waitress.

Country stars joined Nettles in remembering 9/11

Nettles was one of several country artists who helped mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

Lainey Wilson performed Amazing Grace later that evening during 9/11 Tribute in Light in Lower Manhattan, while Darryl Worley performed a revised version of Have You Forgotten?, a song he originally wrote in response to the attacks.

For Nettles, however, the moment at the official memorial service was particularly powerful. She stood before families who continue to carry the loss of September 11 and delivered a song written from the personal grief of another family.

Twenty-five years later, Go Rest High on That Mountain once again became a song of remembrance — this time in the hands of Jennifer Nettles, whose voice carried the emotions of thousands who still have someone to remember.