<p id=”par-1_51″>The <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/country/?swcfpc=1″>country</a> music world is mourning the death of songwriter Brett James, 57, who died in a plane crash on Thursday. James was a prolific songwriter, who’d worked with numerous artists, including <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/most-beloved-carrie-underwood-music-videos.html/”>Carrie Underwood</a>. In 2007, he won a Grammy for best country song for her hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-brett-james-killed-in-tennessee-plane-crash”>Brett James killed in Tennessee plane crash </h2>
<p id=”par-2_35″>James was one of three people aboard a small plane that crashed in western North Carolina on September 18. Also on the plane were Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson, <a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-09-19/brett-james-dead-songwriter-plane-crash-wife-daughter”>The Los Angeles Times</a> reports. </p>
<p id=”par-3_22″>Carole was the wife of James. The pair married in 2021, according to a post on her <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/CYQC051Ms4g/?img_index=1″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Instagram</a>. Wilson was Carole’s daughter. </p>
<p id=”par-4_56″>Carole’s last Instagram post was a tribute to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/robert-redford-oscar-winning-co-star-survived-project-bonding-load.html/”>the late Robert Redford</a>. On September 17, she shared a photo of herself and James with the Oscar winner, writing that she was “so honored” to have had the chance to meet him. Two days before her death, she shared a tribute to her daughter on her birthday. </p>
<p id=”par-5_13″>“No words can express what a gift you are to me,” Carole wrote. </p>
<p id=”par-6_33″>Wilson had turned 28 just days before the crash. On her <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DOquOp0Edv9/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>social media</a>, she noted the this birthday was particularly special, as she was “142 days sober” and “extremely happy to be here.”</p>
<p id=”par-7_102″>James, Carole, and Wilson were the only passengers on the Cirrus SR22T, which crashed in a field in Franklin, North Carolina, around 3 p.m. local time, according to the FAA, which is investigating the accident along with the National Transportation Safety Board. According to the Times, the plane was registered to James – whose legal name was Brett James Cornelius – but it’s not known if he was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash. In early March 2020, James posted on <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/B9P_cGDhe8_/?hl=en” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Instagram</a> about flying himself and two of his friends to a Jason Aldean concert in his own plane.</p>
<p id=”par-8_16″>James has three sons and one daughter from a previous marriage, according to <a href=”https://tasteofcountry.com/brett-james-wife-step-daughter-plane-crash-victims/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Taste of Country</a>.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-carrie-underwood-pays-tribute-to-jesus-take-the-wheel-songwriter”>Carrie Underwood pays tribute to ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ songwriter</h2>
<p id=”par-9_15″>The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame posted a tribute to James on <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/NashvilleSongwritersHOF/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Facebook</a> on Thursday. </p>
<p id=”par-10_42″>“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. He was 57,” read the post. </p>
<p id=”par-11_7″>Underwood also posted a tribute to James. </p>
<p id=”par-12_32″>“Some things are just unfathomable,” the <em>American Idol</em> winner wrote on <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DOyxWbWgO7T/?hl=en&img_index=1″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Instagram</a>. “The loss of Brett James to his family, friends and our music community is too great to put into words.”</p>
<p id=”par-13_32″>Underwood went on to call James “the epitome of ‘cool’ and a “good guy.” She shared memories of their time working together on songs and the time they <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/what-religion-carrie-underwood-singers-faith-comes-through-her-songs.html/”>sang together at church</a>. </p>
<p id=”par-14_92″>“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,” she wrote. “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.”</p>
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