Brett James, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter behind some of country music’s biggest hits, was killed Thursday when his private plane crashed in western North Carolina. He was 57.
Authorities said James was piloting a Cirrus SR22T when it went down around 3:00 p.m. near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, about 130 miles west of Charlotte. The aircraft had departed from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, Tennessee. All three people on board were killed. No one on the ground was injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have launched investigations to determine the cause of the crash.
James, born Brett James Cornelius in Columbia, Missouri, on June 5, 1968, began his career as a solo artist in the mid-1990s before establishing himself as one of Nashville’s most sought-after songwriters. He penned chart-topping hits for artists including Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, and Dierks Bentley. His best-known work, Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” earned him a Grammy Award and cemented his reputation in country music.
Over the course of his career, James wrote or co-wrote dozens of No. 1 songs and received multiple honors, including induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020. He was also a recipient of the ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year award.
Tributes poured in from across the music industry as news of his death spread. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame called James “a creative force whose songs shaped the soundtrack of modern country music.” Fellow artists described him as both a gifted collaborator and a generous mentor.
James is survived by his wife and two children.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced yet.
