Anne Wilson is turning the hardest day of her life into a touching tribute. The gospel singer released “Seventh of June” in tribute to her late brother, Jacob, who was killed in a car accident on that date in 2017.

“‘Seventh of June’ is a song that was written about the day that forever changed my life,” Wilson says of the heartfelt track, which she wrote alongside Matthew West and Jeff Pardo. “The day that I lost my big brother Jacob in a tragic car accident. No matter how much time passes, this is a day that will always be so important to me. I really pray this song impacts people and reminds them that it’s OK to grieve. Jesus is with us in the midst of it all!! This is for you, Jacob.”

Wilson has been vocal about the devastating loss, which is what ultimately led to her now-soaring musical career.

“I sang for the first time in front of anyone at my brother’s funeral,” Wilson, who grew up wanting to work for NASA, previously told Everything Nash, “I had never sung in front of anyone before; my mom and dad had never heard me sing. I played piano my whole life, but I was 15 years old and I had never sung in front of anyone. I was downstairs just worshiping the Lord in the middle of the day, probably four or five days after Jacob had passed away.

“We were planning the funeral and my mom came in the room,” she continued. “She overheard me singing, and then she asked me if I would be willing to sing at the funeral. So the singing at the funeral led to then posting a video of that song, which that video went viral. That’s how I met my manager. And that’s basically how I got into the national scene, all because of that one moment at the funeral.”

Wilson chronicled losing her brother, and how she coped with her grief, in her memoir, My Jesus: From Heartache to Hope, released in October. It was after Wilson’s Dove-award-winning song, “My Jesus,” that Wilson realized she wanted — and needed — to tell her story

“It was like an immediate connection of, ‘Oh wait. This song is actually impacting lives. This song is changing people’s lives. There.’s a lot more to the story here that I feel like we really need to share with people,'” Wilson recalled. “So I decided to write this book, and we wrote it in two months. We wrote it last year, and it really talks about my childhood years up until today and what God did in my childhood, but also obviously the story behind the song and all of that. It just kind of shows how God was always preparing me for this, even since I was a really little girl. It’s a really beautiful story.”

The 21-year-old, who released her debut My Jesus album on Capitol CMG in 2021, will release her next project in partnership with both Capitol CMG and UMG Nashville.

“I am so excited to partner with UMG Nashville. … Over the last two years, I have watched God open doors for my music that I could never open for myself,” Wilson says. “I see these new partnerships as another open door to share the message of hope, faith and the love of my Jesus to an even broader audience. I can’t wait to see what happens next!”

Find “Seventh of June” and all of Wilson’s music and upcoming shows at  AnneWilsonOfficial.com.

Photo Credit” Courtesy of UMG Nashville / Laney Oakes