Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, known for co-writing Carrie Underwood\u2019s hit \u201cJesus, Take the Wheel\u201d, has passed away at the age of 57. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announced his death on September 19, 2025, following a small-plane crash in North Carolina that claimed three lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James had an incredible career, writing hits for artists like Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, and Kenny Chesney. His biggest success came with Underwood\u2019s debut single, which won a Grammy and launched her into superstardom. The two went on to collaborate for more than a decade, with James calling her a dear friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before his music career took off, James studied medicine and even returned to med school after struggling as a recording artist. Becoming a father pushed him to keep going, and soon after, his songwriting career took off, leading to decades of success in Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James leaves behind his wife, Melody Carole, and four children. His final Instagram post was a joyful Father\u2019s Day photo with his family, a lasting image of love and happiness. Though gone too soon, his songs and legacy will continue to inspire generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, known for co-writing Carrie Underwood\u2019s hit \u201cJesus, Take the Wheel\u201d, has passed away at the age of 57. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"views":394,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6402,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6400\/revisions\/6402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}