Hit Country Songwriter Brett James Dies in Plane Crash
It is a tragic end, and a major loss for a towering member of country music’s songwriting community. Hit songwriter Brett James had songwriting credits on an incredible 26 No. 1 tracks, including on Carrie Underwood’s signature song “Jesus Take The Wheel” that won two Grammy Awards including Best Country Song in 2007. He was also an inductee to the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame. But his own song concludes way too soon as it’s been revealed that Brett James was one of three people who perished in a plane crash on Thursday, September 18th.
UPDATE: It’s been confirmed that the other two people who died in the place crash were the wife and daughter of Brett James.
At around 3:00 PM Eastern, a Cirrus SR22T registered to Brett James Cornelius (his legal last name) crashed near a school in Franklin, North Carolina in Macon County, not far from the county airport. The two other passengers also on board died in the accident according to local authorities. The flight had originated in Nashville. No cause for the crash has been revealed at this time.
Brett James was responsible for writing some of the best, most meaningful, and most uplifting songs in country music over the last 25 years while still maintain his integrity, and the integrity of country music through a transitional period. Though he was mostly known in the industry as a songwriter, that’s not how his country music career started.
Born in Columbia, Missouri on June 5th, 1968, Brett James graduated from high school in 1986, and later graduated from Baylor University in Waco, TX with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1991. He was originally supposed to be a doctor, and would be in and out of medical school as he also pursued country music. But for a while, neither of them worked out fully.
James signed to the short-lived Career Records, which was a division of Arista Nashville in 1995. After releasing a series of singles that stalled out of the Top 60 and a self-titled album, his performing career stalled. So he went back to medical school, but in 1998, dropped out again to move back to Nashville, trying to pursue his country music dreams once more. While waiting tables and performing at open mics, James was convinced to try and become a dedicated songwriter. While once again pursuing a medical degree, he’d write country songs every three days.
Jessica Andrews was one of the first to have success with a Brett James song, taking “Who I Am” to #1 in 2000, finally opening the door for James in the industry. Martina McBride then found success with “Blessed,” which rose to #1 in 2001. Off the success of these songs, James once again signed with Arista Nashville as a performer, and released a couple of new singles. But after they stalled in the #30s, plans for a second album were scrapped.
Brett James kept writing though, landing subsequent big #1 hits with Kenny Chesney’s “When The Sun Goes Down,” and in 2006, Underwood’s “Jesus Take The Wheel.” At that point, James became one of the most sought after co-writers in Nashville, penning hits for Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, a young Jason Aldean, Sara Evans, and others of the era. James had a knack for writing landmark songs for an artist’s debut to help ignite their career. He did this once again with Scotty McCreery’s debut hit “I Love You This Big” in 2011.
James penned the big #1 with Dierks Bentley in 2013, “I Hold On.” Like so many Brett James songs, it came with an uplifting feeling that defied the conventional wisdom of what a hit in mainstream country song could be. But as the gloss wore off of the glossy decade of the oughts in country music and gave way to the Bro-Country era, the opportunities for Brett James and his songs began to be featured became more fleeting.
Yet by helping to define a decade as a songwriter, Brett James remain revered, and had finally found a way to live out his country music dream, even if it was others doing the singing for him. Brett James eventually accrued nearly 500 songs recorded by country stars from his catalog.
As news spread about the death of Brett James, artists and fellow songwriters shared their condolences. He was 57 years old.
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September 18, 2025 @ 11:57 pm
Hate this. Always smiled when I’d see his name in liner notes. I still hum his single “Chasin’ Amy”.
September 19, 2025 @ 7:54 am
I always liked that song a lot. A dude from Texas named Steve Helms did a pretty good version of it back around 2011 or so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSfL8BN2-k8
September 19, 2025 @ 12:02 am
Wow.
Medical student, country musician, songwriter.
The only thing left out is Brett Jame studying for and obtaining an aiplane pilot’s license.
I’ll assume that he did that, as well, because he owned the plane and the only other people mentioned as being in the being in it at the time of the crash are identified as passengers.
I never heard of him before, but that’s a Kristoffersonian array of talents.
September 21, 2025 @ 5:32 am
FAA records say he got his private pilot license on Nov. 3, 2020 and had his Single-Engine Land and Instrument ratings. He was required to wear corrective lenses while flying.
The Cirrus SR22T is considered a relatively safe and reliable airplane. It has the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) for use in an emergency. You can see videos online of CAPS-equipped aircraft being lowered safely to the ground. To use it, though, the aircraft has to have some altitude. Cirrus warns that deploying it below 400 feet reduces your chances of it working properly.
September 19, 2025 @ 12:55 am
A great guy who helped many songwriters and dreamers by providing critiques and thoughts over the years when he didn’t have to. Nothing but great things to say about Brett. Thinking of his family and loved ones tonight. Big loss for country music.
September 19, 2025 @ 3:43 am
Sucks it happened but all the songs you listed are complete garbage
September 19, 2025 @ 4:33 am
I bet you’re a hit at parties
September 19, 2025 @ 5:13 am
This is just wrong. Sure, some of the production on those songs wasn’t also the best, but the writing and lyricism are there.
September 19, 2025 @ 6:21 am
Funny you say that, I think all the songs listed are good
September 19, 2025 @ 7:38 am
I would guess it’s the production of the recordings and the artists on them (which the songwriter has no control over) that you dislike the most. I went through his list of songs written that were on Wikipedia. None of the songs I recognized are any of my favorites. That doesn’t mean he didn’t write a bunch of good songs though.
September 19, 2025 @ 12:23 pm
He wrote hits for mainstream artists, aimed at airplay on mainstream radio stations in the 21st century. I wouldn’t expect many people who frequent this site to like all of them, or even most of them. Doesn’t mean they weren’t well crafted.
The big songwriting names of the late 20th century — folks like Dean Dillon and Bob McDill — wrote their hits during an era in which mainstream country radio’s target demographic was middle-aged and older males. As anyone can tell by looking at who turns out for Morgan Wallen and Luke Bryan concerts, the target is now younger and female. I look at his work and find a bunch of songs that won’t make me push the preset button when they come on, but none of them are among my favorites, even among mainstream songs.
I found it interesting that he co-wrote Dierks Bentley’s “I Hold On,” which has an instantly recognizable Bentley feel to it, so much so that I looked up a few other similar hits — “Home,” “Come a Little Closer,” “Lot of Leavin’ Left to Do” — to see if he had a hand in them. No, they all were co-written with another songwriter named Brett, Brett Beavers. It makes me wonder just how much input James had on “I Hold On.”
September 19, 2025 @ 7:44 am
The guy had song writing credits on hundreds of albums and 26 #1 songs. He might not have been everybody’s cup of tea, but clearly his writing was in high demand by producers, artists, and audiences.
September 22, 2025 @ 10:02 am
And what a gift to be able to write songs that sound like the original artist could have written it. That requires some serious talent and research.
September 19, 2025 @ 4:38 am
Wow, what sad news to wake up to and BTW Who, you suck.
I’d met Brett at various songwriting events over the years and always enjoyed his performances and willingness to have a conversation. May he sing his heart out for new heavenly audience. Condolences to his family and friends.
September 19, 2025 @ 4:48 am
That’s sad to hear. It’ll be interesting to hear what the likely cause may have been, as one of the Cirrus selling points is their integrated aircraft parachute system that pilots can pull if they get themselves into a dangerous situation. A gentleman named Juan Browne has a YouTube channel under the name “Blancolirio”. He’s a former military aviator and current airline pilot, and does responsible and reasonable incident breakdowns. He recently did a video on a Cirrus that successfully deployed the parachute over Lake Michigan, where all three aboard survived—per the notable nature of this incident, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does a breakdown in the coming days.
September 19, 2025 @ 4:52 am
I hate to be that guy, but…
“Born in Columbia, Missouri on June 5th, 1968, Brett James graduated from high school in 1968…”
Huh?
September 19, 2025 @ 5:04 am
I’m sure that was probably meant to be graduated in 1986, given that 1986 is 18 years after 1968.
September 19, 2025 @ 6:01 am
Yes, this obituary was written after a very, very long day. It’s been corrected.
September 19, 2025 @ 5:05 am
Very tragic. RIP.
September 19, 2025 @ 5:41 am
He didn’t deploy the parachute system that plane is known for?
September 19, 2025 @ 1:20 pm
No, he had the “JTTW” system.
September 20, 2025 @ 5:34 pm
I thought the same. Cirrus small aircraft have full airframe parachutes that can be deployed although it has to be above 500 ft
September 19, 2025 @ 6:13 am
I really liked “Blessed” when it was released. Martina McBride really sold that song.
Love it or hate it, “Jesus Take the Wheel” was a generational song.
I was digging a little deeper and James had a hand in writing Underwood and Miranda Lambert’s “Somethin’ Bad.” Terrible song, but it was reworked as the NBC Sunday Night Football song. Talk about turning chicken shit into chicken salad. I’m a college football guy and I am usually burned out on football by Sunday night, so unless the Steelers play SNF, I’m more than likely to miss the game. Is the opening still the reworked “Somethin’ Bad” or did they got back to the reworked Joan Jett song? I pulled up dozen articles and wiki pages and it’s not clear what song they are currently using.
These wonderfully written obits always send me down a rabbit hole.
Be kind to our moderator and remember tip our favorite music journalist.
September 19, 2025 @ 11:03 am
I had seen a bunch of tweets the other day complaining about Ai being used. Pretty sure that’s what they were talking about. I’ve watched one half of the nfl this year and it was last night.
Rarely have anything good to say about Bobby bones. Few months ago he did a podcast episode with Jessica Andrews that was pretty good. “Who I am” is easily the favorite of mine that he wrote. She hasn’t been heard from much in at least a decade. Anyways she talks about working with Brett James and what he meant to her.
September 19, 2025 @ 7:38 am
Jesus Take the Wheel is a great and powerful song. Sad news.
September 19, 2025 @ 7:38 am
As corny as I thought it was, Jesus Take The Wheel was a monumental pop country hit in the 2000s and definitely a defining track of that era.
RIP
September 19, 2025 @ 3:20 pm
It was a bit corny, but it more than made up for it in conviction and, thus, heart.
I’ve personally seldom been a fan of Underwood as a strong majority of her catalog just never did anything for me…………..but this (along with “Something In The Water” and a small handful of non-singles like “Choctaw County Affair”) are a shining exception.
September 19, 2025 @ 10:30 am
The Truth from Jason Aldean has to be one of the best of his career. And I hold on by Dierks always gets me. Rip
September 19, 2025 @ 3:24 pm
Yeah, I consider “The Truth” and “Amarillo Sky” to EASILY be the two best hit singles of his career.
I also consider “Fly Over States”, “Tattoos On This Town”, “Night Train” and “Any Ol’ Barstool” in his decent-to-good tier, but I can leave pretty much the entire rest of his hits as I’d rate them anywhere between mediocre (“If I Didn’t Love You”) to atrocious (“1994”).
September 19, 2025 @ 11:34 am
I still consider “The Truth” Aldean’s best hit single to date, “Jesus Take The Wheel” Underwood’s best hit single to date, and “I Hold On” among Dierks Bentley’s five best hit singles to date.
Rest In Peace James!
September 19, 2025 @ 12:42 pm
Man. Looking through his songwriting credits, the ones I recognize are songs I grew up with. Heartbreaking.
September 19, 2025 @ 3:14 pm
I heard this morning,and while I hadn’t heard of James,his passing at 57 is tragic.(It was eight years and 10 days after Troy Gentry’s demise,also in a plane wreck.)
September 19, 2025 @ 4:59 pm
This one hurts. I’m 37 and I’ve known Brett for the better part of the last 20 years.
September 19, 2025 @ 6:39 pm
Sorry for your loss,Tommy.
September 20, 2025 @ 6:22 am
Prayers to his remaining family and friends. He certainly was very talented and had a hand in writing some of the best songs on FM mainstream country radio over the last 25 years.
September 21, 2025 @ 11:32 am
Small planes have not been kind to country music, and music in general, over the years. It’s sad to add another name to the list of lives they’ve claimed.
September 22, 2025 @ 3:52 pm
Sad to read. I cant really understand why people keep flying these small planes. I consider them flying coffins though im sure stats say otherwise. I def couldnt imagine putting my kid on it with me though maybe the kid was grown, dont know, still sucks. May he, his wife and daughter rest in peace