BREAKING: “Jesus, Take The Wheel” Songwriter Brett James Killed In Plane Crash
on Sep 18, 2025
Brett James Cornelius, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter known professionally as Brett James, was killed in a plane crash on Thursday (September 18), according to reports. He was 57.
Local news outlets reported that a small aircraft registered to Brett Cornelius of Brentwood, Tennessee, crashed outside of Franklin, North Carolina, on Thursday afternoon.
FlightAware data indicates that the Cirrus SR22T took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville at 12:41 p.m. (CDT) before it crashed in North Carolina, according to WSMV. It’s unclear where the plane was headed when it crashed.
The Federal Aviation Commission said that the aircraft went down near an elementary school and was carrying three passengers, all of whom perished in the crash.
The identities of the other individuals aboard the plane have not been released.
Who Was Brett James?
Brett James was a renowned songwriter who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020. He was also a two-time recipient of the ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year Award (2006 and 2010).
James earned his first No. 1 hit in 2001 with Jessica Andrews’ “Who I Am.” Other songs that he either wrote or co-wrote include Carrie Underwood’s “Something In The Water,” “Jesus, Take The Wheel” and “Cowboy Casanova,” Kenny Chesney’s “When The Sun Goes Down,” “Out Last Night,” and “Keg In the Closet”), “I Hold On” by Dierks Bentley, “The Truth” by Jason Aldean, and Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights.”
“Jesus, Take The Wheel” earned James a Grammy for Best Country Song in 2006 and trophies for ACM Single of the Year, ASCAP Country Song of the Year, and NSAI Song of the Year.
Brett James had hundreds of songs recorded on major labels over the course of his career, resulting in 27 #1 hits.
The country music community reacted to news of Brett James’ death.
As news of Brett James’ death spread, artists and industry professionals shared tributes to the late songwriter.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame wrote, “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.”
Jimmy Nichols, the former music director for Faith Hill and Reba McEntire, remembered Brett as a “songwriting freak an [sic] absolute sweetheart of a man.”
“I am stunned beyond words right now … This one’s gonna take some time to get over. I’ve never met a man so full of life incredibly modest, considering all the fame he’s achieved through his music. Not to mention incredibly gifted as a vocalist. I could go on and on, but right now I think I just need some time to process this. Nashville has lost one of the best way way too soon,” Nicols wrote on Facebook.
