The music world is reeling after the sudden death of Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, who perished in a plane crash in Franklin, North Carolina, on September 18, 2025. James, 57, was widely recognized as one of Nashville’s most prolific and beloved songwriters, penning hits for a who’s-who of country and pop artists over the past two decades. The crash, which also claimed the lives of Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson, occurred under circumstances that remain under investigation by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), according to the Associated Press and CNN.
Authorities confirmed that the small single-engine plane, a Cirrus SR22T registered under James’s legal name, Brett Cornelius, took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville before going down in a wooded area near Franklin at around 3 p.m. local time. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol reported that there were no survivors. The crash site, as CNN noted, was near Iotla Valley Elementary School, where students were preparing for dismissal—fortunately, no one on the ground was harmed.
James’s death was announced by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on September 19, 2025. The organization, which inducted him as a member in 2020, mourned the loss of a creative force whose songs have touched millions. “We mourn the untimely loss of Hall of Fame member Brett James (‘Jesus Take The Wheel’ / ‘When The Sun Goes Down’), a 2020 inductee who was killed in a small-engine airplane crash on Sept. 18,” the Hall of Fame said in a statement shared on social media.
Born in Oklahoma City, James’s path to music stardom was anything but straightforward. He originally set out to become a doctor, attending Baylor on a pre-med track and enrolling in medical school at the University of Oklahoma. However, after receiving a recording contract from Arista Records during his first year of medical school, he moved to Nashville to pursue his musical ambitions. Although his early years in Nashville were marked by struggle and limited success—he had just two songs recorded in his first seven years—James’s fortunes changed dramatically when 33 of his songs were recorded in a single nine-month period. That breakthrough convinced him to leave medicine behind for good, as he recounted in interviews cited by CNN and the Grand Ole Opry.
James’s first No. 1 hit came in 2001 with “Who I Am,” performed by Jessica Andrews. But it was his co-writing of Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in 2005 that catapulted him into the upper echelon of Nashville songwriters. The song, which he crafted alongside Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, became Underwood’s first number one country single and earned the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Country Song. It also won the 2005 Academy of Country Music Single of the Year and the 2006 ASCAP Country Song of the Year, according to Variety.
Reflecting on the song’s impact, James once told The Tennessean, “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. I’ve heard that story multiple times, like, ‘I had that happen to me.’ It’s interesting that it really touched a nerve.”
Carrie Underwood, who worked closely with James throughout her career, expressed her grief on Instagram: “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.’ 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’t ever sing one note of them again without thinking of him. Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away. It will forever be a reminder that this life is but a moment…we have to make the most of each day we’re given here on earth. Each day is a gift … Love you, man. I’ll see you again someday.”
James’s songwriting résumé reads like a playlist of modern country and pop hits. In addition to “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” he co-wrote “When the Sun Goes Down” and “Out Last Night” for Kenny Chesney, “Cowboy Casanova” for Carrie Underwood, “Summer Nights” for Rascal Flatts, “It’s America” for Rodney Atkins, “The Man I Want to Be” for Chris Young, and “Bottoms Up” for Brantley Gilbert. He also had a Latin hit with Paulina Rubio’s “The One You Love (Todo Mi Amor),” and worked with artists such as Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Nick Jonas, Meghan Trainor, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, and Jason Aldean, as reported by BBC and Fox News.
His influence extended far beyond songwriting. James owned the publishing company Cornman Music, served on the board of the Country Music Association, and was a national trustee of The Recording Academy, according to the Nashville Symphony. He was also recognized as a two-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year, earning the title in 2006 and 2010. Paul Williams, president of ASCAP, called James “a songwriting force of nature,” adding, “He wrote big hits but had an even bigger heart.”
Artists and industry peers poured out tributes following news of his death. Country star Jason Aldean, who recorded “The Truth,” written by James, said during a Thursday night concert, “We got a little bit of sad news tonight right before we came on stage. A longtime friend of ours, the guy that wrote this song, we found out today died in a plane crash in North Carolina. He also wrote this next song, which ended up being one of the biggest songs of my career. So tonight we want to send this out to our friend that we lost tonight, our boy Mr. Brett James.” Aldean later posted on X, “Heartbroken to hear of the loss of my friend Brett James tonight. I had nothing but love and respect for that guy and he helped change my life. Honored to have met him and worked with him.”
Sara Evans, whose song “Cheatin’” was written by James and reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country chart in 2006, wrote, “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.” Dierks Bentley, for whom James co-wrote “I Hold On,” remembered him as a “total legend” and “fellow aviator.”
Despite his remarkable success, James remained humble about his craft. In a 2020 interview with the Grand Ole Opry, he reflected, “At my stage in life, I’m not going to write about driving around in pickup trucks, chasing girls. It needed to feel more classic, lyrically. They all wound up being love songs, but hopefully love songs with a twist, that haven’t all been written before.”
James is survived by his wife, Sandra Cornelius, and their children. His legacy—more than 500 songs recorded, with combined album sales exceeding 110 million copies—will continue to resonate in the hearts of fans and fellow musicians alike. The investigation into the crash is ongoing, but the music community’s sense of loss is immediate and profound.
