Brett James, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter behind country music hit “Jesus Take the Wheel,” died in a plane crash in North Carolina on Thursday. He was 57 years old.
The aircraft — registered under James’ legal name, Brett Cornelius — went down west of Iotla Valley Elementary School, not long after departing from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, according to WTVF. There were no survivors.
“A Cirrus SR22T crashed in a field in Franklin, North Carolina, around 3 p.m. local time on Thursday, Sept. 18. Three people were on board,” the pilot and two passengers, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. It further noted that an investigation, with assistance from the National Transportation and Safety Board, is ongoing.
No students or staff at the school, located near the Macon County Airport, were injured from the crash, police said.
James, so far, is the only crash victim who has been identified. No other details about the incident have been provided.
Born in Missouri on June 5, 1968, James initially set out to study medicine before turning his attention to music, going on to work with some of country’s biggest stars, including Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi and Keith Urban. In addition to penning Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” he also co-wrote Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night” and co-wrote “A Perfectly Good Heart” with Taylor Swift on her debut album.
According to the Nashville Songwriters Association International, he’s written more than 500 songs that have appeared on albums with combined sales of over 110 million copies.
“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,” said Sara Evans, whose hit song “Cheatin’” was written by James. It reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country chart in 2006.
James, a winner of Country Songwriter of the Year, 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.
