Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, known for penning hits including Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” died in a plane crash on Thursday, according to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was 57.
A plane registered under James’ legal name, Brett Cornelius, crashed into a field in Franklin, North Carolina, about 270 miles southeast of Nashville, around 3 p.m. Thursday, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware and a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.
All three people on board – the pilot and two passengers – died in the crash, the FAA said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause.
The small aircraft took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, according to FlightAware. It crashed into a field near Iotla Valley Elementary School, CNN affiliate WLOS reported.
CNN has reached out to Macon County Sheriff’s Office for further information.
James, who worked with megastars including Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi and Keith Urban. He also cowrote Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night” and was regarded as one of the industry’s most sought-after collaborators.
“I am absolutely devastated at the loss of one of the best writers I’ve ever written with and recorded several of his songs, Brett James,” wrote Sara Evans. Her song “Cheatin’” was written by James and reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot County chart in 2006.
His more than 500 songs have appeared on albums with combined sales of over 110 million copies, according to the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
James was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020. He also owned the publishing company Cornman Music and served on the board of the Country Music Association and as a national trustee of The Recording Academy, according to the Nashville Symphony.
James did not play guitar until he was already on a pre-med track at Baylor, he told the university’s alumni magazine. He was in his first year of medical school at the University of Oklahoma when he received a recording contract from Arista Records.
Failing to find success after a seven-year grind in Nashville, James returned to medical school, only to see his songwriting career improbably take off from afar. Getting 33 of his songs recorded in a single year convinced James to leave his studies for good.
“I’d had two recorded in the previous seven years, so 33 in a nine-month period was a pretty good run,” James said.
His biggest break came in 2005, when “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” a song he cowrote with Hillary Lindsay and Gordie Sampson, was attached to the debut album of Carrie Underwood, fresh off her success as “American Idol” champion.
“She debuted it on the CMA Awards, and it turned into something special for all of us,” James told The Tennessean in 2020.
Starting as nothing but a title scribbled down by Sampson with no lyrics, James helped craft the story of a woman who recommits to her faith after a near-death experience on a highway.
James admitted he “didn’t think that much” of the song at first, but it became Underwood’s first number one country single and earned Grammys for both Underwood and the songwriters.
“I tell you what’s crazy is how many people have that story of driving in a car and almost crashing, or feeling like they were pulled out by an angel,” said James. “I’ve heard that story multiple times, like, ‘I had that happen to me.’ It’s interesting that it really touched a nerve.”
James’ influence went beyond country music. He cowrote two songs on Chicago’s 30th studio album, which was produced in Nashville by Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, following a 15-year studio hiatus for the band.
“I have no words for this one,” DeMarcus said Thursday on Instagram. “I am heartbroken. Brett and I wrote a TON of songs together.”
“Brett was a trusted collaborator to country’s greatest names, and a true advocate for his fellow songwriters,” the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers said in an Instagram post announcing James’ death.
“Rest in peace pal. Total stud. Fellow aviator. One of the best singer-songwriters in our town….total legend,” country musician Dierks Bentley wrote on Instagram.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
