Editor’s note: This update includes the identities of the two other passengers, which were not initially available.
Brett James, his wife and her daughter died when the country songwriter’s private plane crashed in a field in Franklin, N.C., at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday afternoon.
The Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame announced his death on Thursday and credited James, whose real name was Brett Cornelius, with writing several hit songs, such as Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” and Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down,” WTVS reported.
James, 57, was piloting the private plane and was carrying his new wife, Melody Carole, and her 28-year-old daughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson, the New York Post and USA Today reported.
The aircraft departed the John C. Turner Airport in Nashville and crashed in a field near the Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin after flying about 270 miles to the southeast.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the deadly crash.
The single-engine turboprop aircraft is a Cirrus SR22T that is registered to James under his real name, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
He had a 20-year career as a songwriter for several country and pop music artists.
James won a Grammy for Best Country Song and was nominated for Best Song for “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in 2007.
He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2020 as Brett James, along with Steve Earle, Bobby Gentry, Kent Blazy and Spooner Oldham.
Notable deaths of 2025
Robert RedfordHollywood legend Robert Redford (L) and his wife Sibylle Szaggars arrive on the red carpet before the screening of the film “All Is Lost” during the 66th annual Cannes International Film Festival in France on May 22, 2013. Redford, an actor, filmmaker and environmentalist who started the Sun Dance Film Festival and who starred in films such as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” died at the age of 89 on September 16. Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo
