Kenny Chesney mourns Brett James after plane crash claims songwriter, wife and stepdaughter

Kenny Chesney mourns Brett James, the prolific country songwriter who died in a plane crash on Sept. 18 in Franklin, North Carolina. James, 57, was killed along with his wife, Melody Carole Wilson, and his stepdaughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson, when a Cirrus SR22T went down in a field about 3 p.m. local time. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was registered to James under his legal name, Brett James Cornelius, and that he appeared to have been piloting. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash alongside the FAA.

Chesney paid tribute on X, calling James his "Brother Of The Sun" and describing a deep, decades-long kinship. He recalled their creative chemistry, noting that they sometimes wrote songs in a single afternoon—"Reality" and "Out Last Night" were written on his pool deck in the Virgin Islands two days after Christmas. He said James’s influence extended beyond collaboration, and that "Half the songs in my shows are songs he wrote or songs we wrote together," making it hard to imagine performances without him.

James's career spanned decades in Nashville. His songwriting helped shape hits for Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean and many others. He wrote or co-wrote "Jesus, Take the Wheel" for Underwood and "The Truth" for Aldean, among dozens of chart-toppers. In 2020, James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Across more than 500 songs recorded by artists including Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Meghan Trainor, his influence stretched across country and pop-adjacent genres.

Chesney reflected that the loss was personal as well as professional. "We had a lot of authentic life fun writing songs together over the years and I’m sure going to miss it," he wrote. "It’s hard to process his creative soul being gone. This kind of loss. I feel as if part of my creative soul went with him." He added that many of the songs he typically performs were written by James, making it impossible to separate his stage shows from his friendship.

The crash occurred in Franklin, North Carolina, where the Cirrus SR22T went down in a field. The FAA described three people were on board, with the two passengers identified as Wilson and Maxwell Wilson. The agency confirmed the aircraft was registered to James under his legal name and that he appeared to have been piloting. The FAA and NTSB are jointly investigating the incident. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

James's legacy endured in Nashville and beyond. His induction into the Hall of Fame in 2020 and his catalog of songs left an imprint on generations of artists and fans. The public response to the tragedy has punctuated how songwriter-producer relationships shape country music audiences, and tributes from peers continue to roll in as investigators review flight data, maintenance records and witness statements to determine what happened that afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.