Brett James, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter known for megahit “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” has died in a small-engine plane crash. He was 57.

James was one of three people on board a Cirrus SR22T aircraft that crashed near Franklin, North Carolina, on Thursday in an incident that the National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating .

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announced James’ death, writing in a Facebook post on Friday, “We mourn the untimely loss of Hall of Fame member Brett James (“Jesus Take The Wheel” / “When The Sun Goes Down”), a 2020 inductee who was killed in a small-engine airplane crash on Sept. 18. He was 57.”

James wrote or co-wrote some of country music’s biggest hit songs, including Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel” and Kenny Chesney’

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