Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James who co-wrote ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ dies in plane crash

By KATHY McCORMACK and JOSH FUNK Grammy award-winning country songwriter Brett James whose string of top hits includes Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood and When The Sun Goes Down by Kenny Chesney died in a plane crash in North Carolina officers mentioned Friday He was Related Articles Representatives find remains they believe are Travis Decker longed in killings of his young daughters US military strike off the coast of Venezuela disrupts life in impoverished fishing communities Wall Street coasts toward the finish of another record-setting week Who qualifies for no tax on tips and what counts as a tip Here are the new rules As dispute swirls around late-night TV here s what a new poll shows about who still watches The small plane with three people aboard crashed Thursday afternoon under unknown circumstances in the woods in Franklin the Federal Aviation Administration noted in a preliminary overview There were no survivors the North Carolina State Highway Patrol declared in a declaration James was on a Cirrus SR T which was registered to him under his legal name of Brett James Cornelius according to information provided by the FAA It was not known if he was the pilot The patrol certified his death The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board announced they will investigate the crash The other two people on the plane were Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson the patrol certified The plane had taken off from John C Tune Airport in Nashville James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in The organization posted an online announcement of mourning FILE Brett James from left Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson hold their award for best country song Jesus Take the Wheel at the th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb AP Photo Kevork Djansezian File A native of Oklahoma City James left medicinal school to pursue a musical career in Nashville according his biography on the Hall of Fame s site His first No hit was Who I Am in by Jessica Andrews Jesus Take the Wheel which he co-wrote for Underwood earned the Grammy for Best Country Song among other honors James had more than of his songs recorded for albums with combined sales of more than million copies according to his Grand Ole Opry biography online Other artists who sang his songs include Faith Hill Kelly Clarkson Luke Bryan Keith Urban Nick Jonas and Meghan Trainor Additional hits include Cowboy Casanova by Underwood Out Last Night by Chesney and Summer Nights by Rascal Flatts Heartbroken to hear of the loss of my friend Brett James tonight country singer Jason Aldean posted on X I had nothing but love and respect for that guy and he helped change my life Honored to have met him and worked with him James recorded his own album in At my stage in life I m not going to write about driving around in pickup trucks chasing girls he was quoted as saying on the Opry site It needed to feel more classic lyrically They all wound up being love songs but hopefully love songs with a twist that haven t all been written before Associated Press reporter Kristin M Hall in Nashville contributed to this story