Vince Gill talks about his brother’s tragic accident and the profound impact it had on him

Vince Gill had several hits in his five decades in country music. But perhaps none had the impact of “Go Rest High on That Mountain.” The 1995 single was born out of grief when Gill began writing after the death of country singer Keith Whitley in 1989. The 22-time GRAMMY winner then put the song on hold for four years until the death of his older half-brother in 1993 spurred him to finish it. While Bob Coen died of a heart attack at age 48, Gill’s family had already been mourning him for years. Gill spoke about the tragedy in a 2022 interview with Dan Rather.

“He was pretty cool”: Vince Gill remembers his older brother

Bob Coen was Vince Gill’s first musical partner. The two shared a passion for playing guitar and even played “Long Tall Texan” by the Beach Boys on a local radio show when Gill was just 8 years old.

Sadly, everything changed drastically when 22-year-old Coen was in a car accident that left him with severe brain damage.

“He was just out there screaming and had too much to drink, he was driving and acting like an idiot, going 120 miles an hour, crashing into a semi-truck and suffering the consequences,” Gill told Rather.

Coen was in a coma for several months and was not expected to survive. He defied the odds but struggled with brain trauma and memory problems until his death in 1993.