Songwriter Brett James Killed in Cirrus Crash

‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ co-writer among three dead in North Carolina incident.

Zach Vasile

Friday, September 19, 2025 at 02:30 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Cirrus aircraft on a runway [Courtesy: Cirrus]

Key Takeaways:

Nashville singer-songwriter Brett James, 57, and two other people died Thursday in a small aircraft crash in North Carolina.
James was a highly acclaimed country music songwriter, best known for co-penning Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take The Wheel," and had over 500 songwriting credits for major artists.
The crash involved a Cirrus SR22T registered to James, which went down in a field near Franklin, North Carolina, with no injuries to anyone on the ground.

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Nashville-based singer-songwriter Brett James died Thursday along with two other people when the small aircraft they were traveling on crashed in North Carolina.

James, best known for helping pen the 2005 hit song “Jesus, Take The Wheel” for country music star Carrie Underwood, was identified as a victim of the crash late Thursday by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was 57.