Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Brett James, the talent behind Carrie Underwood’s 2005 mega hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” has died in a plane crash.
According to tracking website FlightAware and Federal Aviation Administration records, the single-engine, five-seat plane that crashed on Thursday, September 18, was registered to the songwriter. James, whose legal name was Brett Cornelius, was one of three people on board.
The flight took off from John C Tune Airport in Nashville, and around 3 p.m., it crashed over 270 miles away in Macon County, North Carolina. According to local ABC affiliate WLOS, there were no survivors.
Who was Brett James?
The Oklahoma native was a 1991 graduate of Baylor University in Waco and “one of Nashville’s most productive and versatile songwriters,” according to a 2021 Baylor Magazine profile. James was inducted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020.
On Friday, September 19, a spokesperson for the university told MySA that the school “mourns the loss” of the “country music legend and distinguished 1991 Baylor University alumnus.”
“He came to Baylor to pursue a path toward a career in medicine, but after graduation, a different dream took shape as he made his way to Nashville,” the statement said. “His remarkable journey as a Hall of Fame songwriter included 27 No. 1 hits from Carrie Underwood’s ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ to Kenny Chesney’s ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ to Dierks Bentley’s ‘I Hold On.’ Brett also was the beloved father of two Baylor graduates, and our deepest prayers are with his sons, Preston ’20 and Sam ’21, and all those who loved him.”
James was 57 years old.
What songs did Brett James write?
More than 20 tracks written by James have topped the Billboard country music charts. Among his most popular are “Who I Am” by Jessica Andrews and “Blessed” by Martina McBride, as well as his work with Chesney and Bentley. In 2006, his co-writing credit for “Jesus, Take the Wheel” won him the Grammy for Best Country Song – and the same year, he was credited as a co-writer on the budding country star Taylor Swift’s debut record. James co-wrote “A Perfectly Good Heart” with Swift and Troy Verges.
Carrie Underwood pens touching tribute to Brett James
The American Idol Season 4 winner posted a tribute to her Instagram account, noting James many virtues.
“Some things are just unfathomable. The loss of Brett James to his family, friends and our music community is too great to put into words.
Brett was the epitome of ‘cool.’ I see him in my mind riding up to my cabins to write on his motorcycle…his hair somehow perfectly coiffed despite being under a helmet for however long. I always loved hearing him sing ‘Cowboy Casanova’ because a sassy girl anthem should’ve sounded ridiculous coming from a macho dude like him, but somehow, he even made that cool.”
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