Songwriter Brett James dies in North Carolina plane crash

(NewsNation) — Grammy Award-winning country songwriter Brett James, whose hits included “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “When the Sun Goes Down,” was among three people killed in a plane crash Thursday in Franklin, North Carolina.

Macon County officials told WLOS that a single-engine airplane crashed near an elementary school around 3 p.m., with no survivors. The Federal Aviation Administration said three people were on board. One of the plane’s occupants, according to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,

was James, 57.

The aircraft was registered to Brett Cornelius of Brentwood, Tennessee. Billboard noted that the songwriter’s full name is Brett James Cornelius.

According to James’ bio on the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame website, the Columbia, Missouri, native left medical school to pursue a music career and initially aspired to be a recording artist. He found success writing for and with some of country music’s most successful acts.

His songwriting catalogue includes more than 300 major-label cuts, including “When the Sun Goes Down” as recorded by Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker, “Summer Nights” by Rascal Flatts, and “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood, which won the 2006 Grammy for Best Country Song.

James, who also collaborated with Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi, was named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year in 2006 and 2010.

The identities of the two others on the plane were not immediately released.