The pent-up demand for “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” helped propel the album to the summit of both the Billboard country and pop album charts, becoming Jackson’s first number one pop album. It held the top position for five weeks.
“Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” was never sold as a benefit song, and it is unknown if proceeds from the song’s success were donated to various Nine-Eleven-related benefit organizations.
Management for Jackson only claimed at the time of the song’s release that Jackson “has no official ties to any non-profit group,” and he “prefers to make his donations privately.”
Critical response to “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” was overwhelmingly positive. Music analysts appreciated its simple message and largely apolitical stance.
Jackson downplayed his own contribution to the song’s success, quoting a phrase often credited to Hank Williams who supposedly said, “God writes the songs, I just hold the pen.” Alan considered his creation’s enormous popularity and subsequent accolades to be personally overwhelming and rather uncomfortable due to its subject matter.
Among the notable awards that “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” took were “Song of the Year” honors from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. It won for Alan Jackson his first Grammy award for “Best Country Song,” even being nominated in the overall “Song of the Year” category, a rarity for a pure country song (it lost to Norah Jones’ pop/jazz offering, “Don’t Know Why”).
“Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” also achieved a most unusual tribute when Georgia Representative Mac Collins entered the lyrics into the United States Congressional Record, citing the song as “an example of how all Americans can help heal our nation from the wounds we suffered on that tragic day.”
