Brett James, the Grammy-winning songwriter behind Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down,” died Thursday in a small-engine plane crash. He was 57.
The singer-songwriter was one of three people on board a Cirrus SR22T plane when it crashed into a field on Thursday afternoon in Franklin, North Carolina, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. Nobody on board survived the crash.
Officials are still investigating what caused the accident.
“The (Federal Aviation Administration) and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the FAA said in a statement. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide further updates.”
Data from FlightAware, a public flight tracking system, shows the plane left John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, Tennessee, at 12:41 p.m. on Thursday. The plane’s owner is listed as Brett Cornelius, the singer’s legal name.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announced the musician’s death in a Facebook post shared Friday.
A tribute post from the nonprofit performing rights organization, ASCAP, said, “We’re mourning the loss of Brett James, co-writer of ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ and ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ and a 2-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year.”
The tribute continued, “Brett was a trusted collaborator to country’s greatest names and a true advocate for songwriters. We miss him dearly.”
James, who was born in Colombia, Missouri, was on track to graduating from medical school at University of Oklahoma when he left for Nashville to pursue a career in music, per CNN.
James co-wrote music for Martina McBride, Jason Aldean, Billy Ray Cyrus and Rascal Flatts. He also had diverse songwriting credits on songs from Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, Tim McGraw, Kelly Clarkson and several others.
But his Grammy-winning song “Jesus Take the Wheel” is what stands as a hallmark of his work.
“That was a great day, obviously,” James told The Tennessean in 2020 of writing the song. “We showed up like all songwriters do at the crack of 11:00. We just talked about life for about the first hour or so like all songwriters do. And then it was finally time to write a song today.”
“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,” James continued. “It’s interesting that it really touched a nerve. So, it’s been a true blessing.”