In 2008, James also began working as a record producer, with his production credits including Gracin’s ”[[We Weren’t Crazy]]”, [[Kristy Lee Cook]]’s ”[[Why Wait (album)|Why Wait]]”,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/01/idol-kristy-lee-cook-signs-with-arista-nashville-again/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703211849/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/01/idol-kristy-lee-cook-signs-with-arista-nashville-again/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 3, 2008|title=”Idol” Kristy Lee Cook Signs With Arista Nashville, Again|date=July 1, 2008|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=May 26, 2009}}</ref> a re-release of [[Taylor Swift]]’s self-titled [[Taylor Swift (album)|debut album]], [[Jessica Simpson]]’s ”[[Do You Know (Jessica Simpson album)|Do You Know]]” and [[Kip Moore]]’s ”[[Up All Night (Kip Moore album)|Up All Night]]”.
In 2008, James also began working as a record producer, with his production credits including Gracin’s ”[[We Weren’t Crazy]]”, [[Kristy Lee Cook]]’s ”[[Why Wait (album)|Why Wait]]”,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/01/idol-kristy-lee-cook-signs-with-arista-nashville-again/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703211849/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/01/idol-kristy-lee-cook-signs-with-arista-nashville-again/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 3, 2008|title=”Idol” Kristy Lee Cook Signs With Arista Nashville, Again|date=July 1, 2008|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=May 26, 2009}}</ref> a re-release of [[Taylor Swift]]’s self-titled [[Taylor Swift (album)|debut album]], [[Jessica Simpson]]’s ”[[Do You Know (Jessica Simpson album)|Do You Know]]” and [[Kip Moore]]’s ”[[Up All Night (Kip Moore album)|Up All Night]]”.
== Death ==
== Death ==
Brett James was killed in a plane crash on the afternoon of September 18, 2025 near Franklin, North Carolina. Two other people aboard the plane also died in the accident.<ref name=”:0″ /> The plane had taken off from [[John C. Tune Airport]] near [[Nashville]], Tennessee before crashing in a field in Iotla Valley, North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Tsul |first1=Karina |last2=Cooper |first2=Aaron |last3=Rose |first3=Andy |date=2025-09-19 |title=Brett James, Grammy-winning ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ songwriter, dies in North Carolina plane crash |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/19/entertainment/brett-james-death-plane-crash-hnk |website=CNN |access-date=2025-09-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Black |first=Lauren Jo |date=2025-09-18 |title=BREAKING: Grammy-Winning Songwriter Brett James Dies in Tragic Plane Crash at 57 |url=https://countrynow.com/breaking-grammy-winning-songwriter-brett-james-dies-in-tragic-plane-crash-at-57/ |website=Country Now |access-date=2025-09-19}}</ref>
Brett James was killed in crash on the afternoon of September 18, 2025 near Franklin, North Carolina. Two other people aboard the plane also died in the accident.<ref name=”:0″ /> The plane had taken off from [[John C. Tune Airport]] near [[Nashville]], Tennessee before crashing in a field in Iotla Valley, North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Tsul |first1=Karina |last2=Cooper |first2=Aaron |last3=Rose |first3=Andy |date=2025-09-19 |title=Brett James, Grammy-winning ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ songwriter, dies in North Carolina plane crash |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/19/entertainment/brett-james-death-plane-crash-hnk |website=CNN |access-date=2025-09-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Black |first=Lauren Jo |date=2025-09-18 |title=BREAKING: Grammy-Winning Songwriter Brett James Dies in Tragic Plane Crash at 57 |url=https://countrynow.com/breaking-grammy-winning-songwriter-brett-james-dies-in-tragic-plane-crash-at-57/ |website=Country Now |access-date=2025-09-19}}</ref>
The [[Cirrus SR22|Cirrus SR22T]], registered to James, crashed near an elementary school, in a field short of the runway of the [[Macon County Airport]].<ref name=”NYT Obit” /><ref name=”:0″>{{Cite news |last=Griffin |first=Ashley |date=18 September 2025 |title=Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James dies in plane crash near North Carolina school |url=https://fox17.com/news/local/grammy-winning-songwriter-brett-james-dies-in-plane-crash-near-north-carolina-school-franklin-cirrus-sr22t-thursday-plane-crash-news-tennessee-google-trends |access-date=19 September 2025 |work=WZTV}}</ref> [[FlightAware]] data showed that the plane’s last recorded speed was 83 miles per hour and it stopped moving at 2:56 PM. The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] is investigating the crash.<ref name=”NYT Obit”>{{cite news |last1=Yoon |first1=John |last2=Wolfe |first2=Jonathan |title=Brett James, Writer of Country Hits, Dies in Plane Crash in North Carolina |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/plane-crash-north-carolina-brett-james.html |access-date=19 September 2025 |work=[[New York Times]] |date=19 September 2025}}</ref>
The [[Cirrus SR22|Cirrus SR22T]], registered to James, crashed near an elementary school, in a field short of the runway of the [[Macon County Airport]].<ref name=”NYT Obit” /><ref name=”:0″>{{Cite news |last=Griffin |first=Ashley |date=18 September 2025 |title=Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James dies in plane crash near North Carolina school |url=https://fox17.com/news/local/grammy-winning-songwriter-brett-james-dies-in-plane-crash-near-north-carolina-school-franklin-cirrus-sr22t-thursday-plane-crash-news-tennessee-google-trends |access-date=19 September 2025 |work=WZTV}}</ref> [[FlightAware]] data showed that the plane’s last recorded speed was 83 miles per hour and it stopped moving at 2:56 PM. The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] is investigating the crash.<ref name=”NYT Obit”>{{cite news |last1=Yoon |first1=John |last2=Wolfe |first2=Jonathan |title=Brett James, Writer of Country Hits, Dies in Plane Crash in North Carolina |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/plane-crash-north-carolina-brett-james.html |access-date=19 September 2025 |work=[[New York Times]] |date=19 September 2025}}</ref>
American singer-songwriter and record producer (1968–2025)
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Brett James |
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_(cropped).jpg) James in 2015 |
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| Birth name | Brett James Cornelius[1] |
| Born | (1968-06-05)June 5, 1968 Columbia, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | September 18, 2025(2025-09-18) (aged 57) near Franklin, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | |
| Labels | |
Musical artist
Brett James Cornelius (June 5, 1968 – September 18, 2025) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James’ compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists.[2] Signed to Career Records (a division of Arista Nashville) as a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year. He returned to Arista as a recording artist in 2002, releasing two more singles.
Since the early 2000s, James became known primarily as a songwriter for other country and pop music artists. Among his compositions was Carrie Underwood‘s 2006 number-one hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel“, which received Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. His writer’s credits also included number-one hits for Jessica Andrews, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, Rodney Atkins, and Jason Aldean.
He was killed when his airplane crashed September 18, 2025.
James was born in Columbia, Missouri; his father was a physician, Dr. Sam Cornelius and his mother was Carolyn. James graduated from Christian Heritage Academy high-school in Del City, Oklahoma in 1986. He attended Baylor University, pledged Sigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science Degree. He attended medical school for a time in the early 1990s, but dropped out to pursue a musical career as a recording artist on Career Records, a subsidiary of Arista Nashville, in 1995. That year, he released his self-titled debut album, which included the charting singles “Female Bonding,” “If I Could See Love” and “Worth the Fall.”[3] Also included on this album was “Wake Up and Smell the Whiskey”, which was co-written and later released as a single by Dean Miller in 1997.
In addition, he appeared on two compilation albums issued by Arista Nashville. The first of these was 1996’s Star of Wonder: A Country Christmas, on which he sang “What Child Is This?“,[4] and the other was a country-gospel album entitled Peace in the Valley, to which he contributed a recording of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” This latter album was also promoted via a special on The Nashville Network (TNN), now Spike.[5] In 1998, James and Tammy Graham were both dropped from Career Records when it merged with Arista Nashville.[6]
James returned to his singing career in the early 2000s. After declining to join the band Sixwire,[7] he re-signed with Arista Nashville and began working with producer Dann Huff.[8] Although he twice charted in the top 40 of the Hot Country Songs charts with “Chasing Amy” and “After All”, he never released a full album.[3]
In 1998, James was at a low point: he had left medical school at the University of Oklahoma after one year to go to Nashville to make a career, but after nine months of waiting tables and attending many open mic nights, he had not had much success, and he was dropped from his recording and publishing deals. James thought he was in the wrong business, according to entertainment writer David Ross.[9] James met with producer Mark Bright who agreed to sign him for very little money to Bright’s new publishing company, “Teracel Music”, as its first and only writer.[10] SIx weeks into the agreement, James was re-accepted to medical school and decided to go back. Bright asked him if he would continue to write songs anyway, to satisfy the one-year agreement, and James promised to write every third day. He kept his promise, later saying, “It was a big creative shift—letting go of the dream of being a big star and just trying to write some cool music.”[9] He wrote many songs including “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Cowboy Casanova” for Teracel, and his songs were recorded by artists such as Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Jessica Andrews, Martina McBride and later Carrie Underwood. Within the year’s contract with Teracel, James had a hot streak of 33 songs to be recorded by major artists. In 2000, James quit school for a final time.[11] The dean of the medical school agreed with James that his success as a songwriter was undeniable and wished him well, saying, “You have to go and do this … but you can’t ever come back”.[9]
His singles for other artists in the early 2000s included the number-one hits “Who I Am” by Jessica Andrews and “Blessed” by Martina McBride.[11] He continued to write for other artists, with two more of his songs topping the charts: “When the Sun Goes Down” by Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker, and “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood, in 2004 and 2006 respectively. “Jesus, Take the Wheel” also won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song, the latter of which was awarded to James and the song’s other two songwriters.[12] Rodney Atkins‘ “It’s America“, Chesney’s “Out Last Night” and Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova“, all co-written by James, also topped the country charts in 2009. In 2010, James charted number one with Jason Aldean‘s “The Truth” and Chris Young‘s “The Man I Want to Be“. ASCAP named James their country songwriter of the year in 2006[13] and again in 2010.[14][15] Non-country artists who have recorded his works include Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi and Paulina Rubio. James also co-wrote American Idol season 10 winner Scotty McCreery‘s debut single “I Love You This Big“.[15]
In 2008, James also began working as a record producer, with his production credits including Gracin’s We Weren’t Crazy, Kristy Lee Cook‘s Why Wait,[16] a re-release of Taylor Swift‘s self-titled debut album, Jessica Simpson‘s Do You Know and Kip Moore‘s Up All Night.
Brett James was killed in an airplane crash on the afternoon of September 18, 2025 near Franklin, North Carolina. Two other people aboard the plane also died in the accident.[17] The plane had taken off from John C. Tune Airport near Nashville, Tennessee before crashing in a field in Iotla Valley, North Carolina.[18][19]
The Cirrus SR22T, registered to James, crashed near an elementary school, in a field short of the runway of the Macon County Airport.[20][17] FlightAware data showed that the plane’s last recorded speed was 83 miles per hour and it stopped moving at 2:56 PM. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.[20]
Songs written by Brett James
[edit]
James’ songwriting credits include twenty-six Number One hits. Besides these, he wrote several other Top 10 country hits, including cuts by Rascal Flatts, Josh Gracin, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, and others.[15]
- ^ Full name per ASCAP database
- ^ “Brett James/Credits”. allmusic.com. AllMusic (RhythmOne Group). Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
- ^ Morris, Edward (July 4, 1996). “Young at Heart”. Nashville Scene. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ Phillips, Carroll (March 26, 1997). “TNN’s “Peace in Valley” blends top acts, gospel”. The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ “Arista Nashville Trims Roster”. Yahoo! Music. March 13, 1998. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ Stark, Phyllis (June 13, 2002). “Sixwire in the spotlight”. Billboard. p. 15. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
- ^ Price, Deborah Evans (April 13, 2002). “Reviews”. Billboard. p. 18.
- ^ a b c Ross, David M. (February 1, 2016). “Brett James: Follow The Music, Follow Your Heart”. nekst.biz. David M. Ross. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ McCall, Michael (July 7, 2013). “Interview: Mark Bright”. countrymusichalloffame.org. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
- ^ a b “2006 ASCAP Country Music Awards”. ASCAP. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ “Brett James — Grammy Awards”. Allmusic. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (October 23, 2006). “Rich, James, Rutherford Top ASCAP Country Honors”. Billboard. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ “ASCAP Country Music Awards Honors Dierks Bentley, Brett James, Alan Jackson”. American Songwriter. September 15, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ a b c James, Brett (August 8, 2011). “Interview with Hit Country & Pop Songwriter Brett James, Two-Time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year” (Interview). Interviewed by Kawashima, Dale. SongwriterUniverse. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ ““Idol” Kristy Lee Cook Signs With Arista Nashville, Again”. Rolling Stone. July 1, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ a b Griffin, Ashley (September 18, 2025). “Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James dies in plane crash near North Carolina school”. WZTV. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ Tsul, Karina; Cooper, Aaron; Rose, Andy (September 19, 2025). “Brett James, Grammy-winning ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ songwriter, dies in North Carolina plane crash”. CNN. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ Black, Lauren Jo (September 18, 2025). “BREAKING: Grammy-Winning Songwriter Brett James Dies in Tragic Plane Crash at 57”. Country Now. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ a b Yoon, John; Wolfe, Jonathan (September 19, 2025). “Brett James, Writer of Country Hits, Dies in Plane Crash in North Carolina”. New York Times. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
- ^ “RPM Country Tracks for August 21, 1995”. RPM. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
