Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, known for co-writing Carrie Underwood’s hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” died Thursday when a small plane crashed near a North Carolina elementary school. He was 57.
The Cirrus SR22T aircraft went down around 3 p.m. in a field near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, North Carolina, about 270 miles southeast of Nashville. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that all three people aboard died in the crash.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol identified the victims as Brett James Cornelius (James’s legal name), Melody Carole, and Meryl Maxwell Wilson. The plane had departed from Nashville’s John C. Tune Airport at approximately 12:41 p.m., according to flight-tracking data from FlightAware.
Local authorities emphasized that no students or staff at the nearby school were injured. “All students and staff at the elementary school are safe and the incident did not happen on campus,” Macon County Schools officials stated.
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The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash. The aircraft was registered to James under his legal name, Brett Cornelius.
James, a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, built an impressive career after taking an unusual path to songwriting success. The Oklahoma City native was studying medicine at the University of Oklahoma when he received a recording contract from Arista Records. After initially struggling in Nashville for seven years, James returned to medical school, only to have his songwriting career unexpectedly take off.
“I’d had two recorded in the previous seven years, so 33 in a nine-month period was a pretty good run,” James told The Tennessean in 2020, explaining his decision to leave medicine for music.
His breakthrough came in 2005 with “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” which he co-wrote with Hillary Lindsay and Gordie Sampson for Carrie Underwood’s debut album. The song became Underwood’s first number one country single and earned Grammys for both the artist and songwriters.
Throughout his career, James wrote more than 500 songs that appeared on albums with combined sales exceeding 110 million copies. He collaborated with major artists including Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, and Faith Hill. His other notable hits include “Cowboy Casanova” by Underwood, “Out Last Night” by Chesney, and “Summer Nights” by Rascal Flatts.
The music industry quickly began honoring James’s legacy. “Brett was a trusted collaborator to country’s greatest names, and a true advocate for his fellow songwriters,” the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers stated in an Instagram post.
Country singer Sara Evans, who recorded several of James’s songs including the Top 10 hit “Cheatin’,” wrote: “I am absolutely devastated at the loss of one of the best writers I’ve ever written with.”
Country musician Dierks Bentley added: “Rest in peace pal. Total stud. Fellow aviator. One of the best singer-songwriters in our town….total legend.”
James also owned the publishing company Cornman Music and served on the board of the Country Music Association. In 2020, he released his own album, saying at the time: “At my stage in life, I’m not going to write about driving around in pickup trucks, chasing girls. It needed to feel more classic, lyrically.”
The investigation into the crash continues, with the FAA and NTSB working to determine the cause.
