Grammy Award winning songwriter Brett James has died in a plane crash. He was 57 years old.
As reported by local TV station WLOS, James, along with two others, were on board a small plane that went down in Macon County in North Carolina, around 3pm on Thursday (9.17.) There were no survivors
According to the FAA, the aircraft was registered to Brett Cornelius of Brentwood, which is Brett James’ official name.
In 2020, James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame who took to facebook with a short tribute of their own about the passing:
“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.”
James launched his music career as a solo artist, and went on to become a behind-the-scenes star, penning hits for such superstar country musicians as Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Chesney and Martina McBride, Dierks Bentley and Rascal Flatts. It was in 2001 that he landed his first Billboard #1 single with ‘Who I Am’ by Jessica Andrews and Brett scored major success with Carrie Underwood, whose 2005 single ‘Jesus, Take The Wheel’ hit #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 that captured two Grammy nominations, and winning for best country song.
In total, the Missouri-born musician wrote more than 300 major-label songs and was twice named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year, in 2006 and 2010.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/D. Myles Cullen – Public Domain