Prolific veteran songwriter Brett James, known for country hits like “Jesus Take the Wheel,” has died. He was 57.
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The “I Hold On” songwriter was killed in a plane crash in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon.
James was one of three passengers on a single-engine Cirrus SR22T aircraft that took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville. The plane crashed in an open field near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, NC, according to Nashville’s WZTV.
James was flying on his private jet with his new wife, Melody Wilson, 59, and her 28-year-old daughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson, The New York Post confirmed.
All three people on board the plane were killed.
No students or staff at the school near Macon County Airport were injured in the crash. The 2016 SR22T aircraft was registered to James, listed under his legal name, Brett Cornelius, from Brentwood, Tennessee, according to flight records.
James’s flight was scheduled to depart Nashville at 1:15 p.m. for a 250-mile trip, but he didn’t take off until after 1:40 p.m. The plane crashed in the field just before 3 p.m.
BREAKING NEWS: Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, known for hits like “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” died in a North Carolina plane crash near an elementary school earlier today, along with two other passengers. https://t.co/ZsI8NuPx42 pic.twitter.com/etj5ll9oob
— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) September 19, 2025
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Brett James Wrote Tracks for Artists Like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney
James quit medical school to pursue a music career in Nashville. In 1992, he signed with Career Records, according to Songwriter Universe. He released his self-titled album in 1995. Over eight years, five of his singles reached Billboard’s country chart.
James shifted to songwriting and quickly found success, writing songs for artists like Kenny Chesney and Martina McBride. He became a prominent country music songwriter in the 2000s and early 2010s, creating hits such as Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” Taylor Swift’s “A Perfectly Good Heart,” and Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights.”
He wrote 27 number-one hits on country radio and also worked with Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, and Bon Jovi.
James, inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, also wrote Dierks Bentley’s 2013 hit “I Hold On.”
“Rest in peace, pal. Total stud. Fellow aviator. One of the best singer-songwriters in our town….total legend,” Bentley wrote on Instagram.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers also paid tribute to James in an Instagram post, writing: “Brett was a trusted collaborator to country’s greatest names, and a true advocate for his fellow songwriters.”
Meanwhile, James is survived by his four grown children he shared with his first wife, Sandra Cornelius-Little.