{"id":2035555,"date":"2025-09-19T22:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T22:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2035555"},"modified":"2025-09-19T22:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T22:03:25","slug":"country-songwriter-brett-james-and-family-killed-in-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/country-songwriter-brett-james-and-family-killed-in-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Songwriter Brett James and Family Killed in Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brett James<\/strong>\u2019 wife, Melody Carole<\/strong>, and his stepdaughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson<\/strong>, were both killed in the North Carolina plane crash<\/a> that also claimed the country music songwriter\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed on Friday, September 19, that all three died when their single-engine Cirrus SR22T plane crashed into a field near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, North Carolina, on Thursday, September 18, according to The New York Times<\/em><\/a>. The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s investigation into the crash is ongoing and a preliminary report is expected within 30 days.<\/p>\n

According to the outlet, the plane was registered to Brett Cornelius, which a profile<\/a> on the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame website suggested was the musician\u2019s real name.<\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame previously announced<\/a> on Thursday that James died at age 57 in \u201ca small-engine airplane crash,\u201d though it was not known that Melody and Meryl were on board as well at the time.<\/p>\n

Meryl celebrated her 28th birthday on Tuesday, September 16, with what turned out to be a poignant last Instagram post<\/a>: \u201c28 years old.\u2728142 days sober.\u2728Extremely happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother Melody\u2019s penultimate Instagram post<\/a> was a loving tribute to Meryl in honor of her birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow Blessed am I to be your Momma,\u201d Melody wrote on Wednesday, September 17. \u201cYou\u2019re the MOST BEAUTIFUL AMAZING HUMAN inside and out! I\u2019m humbled and grateful everyday for your shining presence in my life! God has already used you for His Kingdom in so many ways and so much more to come! No words can express what a gift you are to me and everyone that KNOWS YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMOMMMMAAA \ud83e\udd79\ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc\ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc\ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc\ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc\ud83e\udd79 you\u2019re the best thing in the world,\u201d Meryl replied.<\/p>\n

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\n Brett James and Melody Carole in January 2022.<\/span> Instagram\/@melodycarole1<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In January 2022, Melody \u2014 who was 59 at the time of her death \u2014 announced that she\u2019d gotten married to James the previous summer, as she shared photos of the couple cutting their wedding cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an awesome year! August 21st Brett and I got married. Lucky me,\u201d she wrote via Instagram<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

James was an award-winning singer-songwriter who wrote music for Taylor Swift<\/strong>, Jessica Simpson<\/strong>, Kelly Clarkson<\/strong>, Bon Jovi and the Backstreet Boys throughout his 30-year career. His most famous composition was cowriting Carrie Underwood<\/strong>\u2019s 2006 hit \u201cJesus, Take the Wheel,\u201d which topped the Billboard Hot Country chart and won Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song.<\/p>\n

Underwood remembered James as a \u201cgood guy\u201d who once gave her an equal songwriting credit for a track that he \u201cbasically wrote 75 percent of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe filled in the blanks and added a little melody and I told him after that I didn\u2019t feel right splitting the credit evenly when he did most of the work,\u201d Underwood, 42, recalled in a post<\/a> via Instagram on Friday. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t have it. He insisted that everything be equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Country Music Tragedies: The Saddest and Most Shocking Deaths<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tGone, but not forgotten. The country music world has lost many of their biggest and brightest stars, from Naomi Judd to Loretta Lynn over the years. The Judds singer\u2019s daughters, Wynonna and Ashley Judd, revealed that their mother died in April 2022 at the age of 76, after a long battle with depression. \u201cToday we [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Underwood went on, \u201cBrett loved the Lord. Which is the only comfort we can hold on to now. We even had the pleasure of singing together at church. My favorite songs to sing of ours are the ones that he or we wrote about Jesus because the thoughts and feelings behind them are so genuine and pure. I won\u2019t ever sing one note of them again without thinking of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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