Brett James , the Grammy-winning country songwriter behind hits like Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night,” died Thursday when the plane he was piloting crashed in North Carolina. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, which inducted James in 2020, confirmed his death in a Facebook post. He was 57.

James was reportedly piloting a Cirrus SR22T plane, which took off from Nashville’s John C. Tune Airport Thursday afternoon before crashing in North Carolina.

While James’ biggest achievement was Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” which won him the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 2006, the Nashville songwriter was responsible for some of the genre’s most recognizable and enduring radio hits. He co-wrote Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down

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