Brett James, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter behind some of country music's biggest hits, died in a plane crash in North Carolina on September 17. He was 57 years old. The musician was killed alongside two other passengers, identified as his wife Melody Carole and stepdaughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson, when the single-engine Cirrus SR22T aircraft they were traveling in from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, crashed near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, NC, according to WTVF.
"A Cirrus SR22T crashed in a field in Franklin, North Carolina, around 3 p.m. local time on Thursday, Sept. 18. Three people were on board," the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement, adding it will investigate the incident with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Macon County Sheriff's Office confirmed that no students or staff at the school were injured from the crash. "To the parents that have children that attend Iotla school. The students, and staff are safe. There was an airplane accident on the neighboring property. Again all students and staff are safe," the sheriff's office said in a statement on Facebook.
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Brett, who was born Brett James Cornelius, is survived by his ex-wife, Sandra Cornelius, and their four children, three sons and a daughter named Clare. Not much is known about his private life. One of his last posts on Instagram was a group photo of him and his wife on June 16, which he captioned: "Such an amazing Father's Day!!"
His stepdaughter, Meryl, had just turned 28. She also celebrated being 142 days sober before her untimely death.
His song, "True Believer", about the relationship between a father and daughter, was inspired by his kids, especially his relationship with Clare. "I sort of loved watching them all cry as they listened to the song. My daughter and I will always have that moment, and we will always have that song," he told American Songwriter.
Parents
Brett initially intended to follow in his physician father, Dr. Sam Cornelius' footsteps and attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma before dropping out in his sophomore year to move to Nashville and pursue a music career after a friend helped him arrange meetings with three record labels. "Two of them kind of patted me on the head and sent me packing, but the third one was with Arista Records, and at the time, they were the best record label around," he told The Oklahoma in 2009.
© Getty ImagesWhile he didn't end up as a physician like his dad, who passed away in 2007, music did run in the family as Brett's father was a talented singer and his mother, Carolyn, was a classical pianist. "He's the best singer in the family. He could have done it professionally, and I think he always wished he had," Brett said of his dad. "He was really in favor of me pursuing music. I think he's been able to live vicariously through me a little."
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Brett released his self-titled album in 1995 after signing with Arista Nashville's Career Records and released five singles in eight years that reached Billboard's country chart. After turning his attention to songwriting, he found huge success and wrote songs for artists including Carrie Underwood ("Jesus, Take The Wheel," "Cowboy Casanova"), Kenny Chesney ("When The Sun Goes Down," "Out Last Night," "Keg In the Closet"), Dierks Bentley ("I Hold On"), Jason Aldean ("The Truth"), and Rascal Flatts ("Summer Nights").
Tributes
© InstagramTributes have poured in for Brett since the news of his death. The Nashville Songwriters Association International said it "is stunned by the death of board member and legendary songwriter Brett James. The loss is profound." ASCAP, a performing rights organization, shared: "Brett was a trusted collaborator to country’s greatest names and a true advocate for songwriters. We miss him dearly."
Dierks Bentley paid an emotional tribute to his "pal," writing on Instagram: "Rest in peace pal. Total stud. Fellow aviator. One of the best singer-songwriters in our town….total legend. I brought a couple of roughy sketched verse ideas of I Hold On to Brett after my dad died and he just did his thing. The chorus is all him. When I sing that song live, I'm always thinking of my dad, but I also think about that day we wrote it. He just got it, just lit into it. It was one of the first times we wrote and I decided to drop the most meaningful and necessary idea of a song I had on him, because I felt like God was telling me to do so. Our friendship and that song changed my life. Prayers for his family @brettjamessongs."
© InstagramSara Evans, who recorded several songs written by Brett, wrote on Instagram: "I am absolutely devastated at the loss of one of the best writers I've ever written with and recorded several of his songs. Brett James. I'm praying for his loved ones. What a tragic and sad day. He will be so missed."
Jason Aldean honored Brett during his show on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, telling the crowd: "We got a little bit of some sad news tonight right before we came on stage. A long-time friend of ours, the guy that wrote this song, actually found out today died in a plane crash in North Carolina. And this guy written a lot of stuff for us over the years. If anybody’s familiar with the albums, we had a song called Tonight Town that this guy wrote.
© Getty Images"Had a song, I think the second album called Grown Woman that we did with Miranda Lambert this guy wrote. And he also wrote this next song, which ended up being one of the biggest songs of my career. So tonight we want to send this out to our friend that we lost tonight, our boy Mr. Brett James. This one's called The Truth."
