Terrible news. Grammy winning country songwriter Brett James, whose credits include 27 #1s and tons of other hits, was killed this afternoon in a plane crash in North Carolina. According to authorities in Macon County, NC,  the Cirrus SR22T with tail number N218VB took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville shortly after noon on Thursday before crashing near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, North Carolina. Luckily, all students and staff at the elementary school were safe, but all three passengers on the plane were killed in the crash. The plane was registered to James, whose full name was Brett James Cornelius. James got his start in country music as an artist himself, dropping out of medical school at the University of Oklahoma and releasing his self-titled debut album in 1995. He charted two singles, including “Chasing Amy” and “After All” after signing to Arista Nashville in the early 2000s, but never released another album and actually ended up going back to medical school after his music career failed to take off. But James had signed with a new songwriting company before going back to school, and continued writing songs while attending medical school to fulfill his contract. And he found himself having success at his side gig, scoring 33 songs recorded by major artists – so he decided to focus on songwriting once and for all. It turned out to be the right decision, because James ultimately wrote 27 #1 hits including songs like “Jesus, Take The Wheel” for Carrie Underwood, “When The Sun Goes Down” and “Out Last Night” by Kenny Chesney, “The Truth” by Jason Aldean, “The Man I Want To Be” by Chris Young, and “Somethin’ Bad” by Miranda Lambert. And that’s just scratching the surface: He’s also written songs for artists from Tim McGraw, Wynonna, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dierks Bentley and Lorrie Morgan to Bon Jovi and the Backstreet Boys. James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, and after his death the Hall of Fame paid tribute to the songwriter on social media: “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.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nashville Songwriters HOF (@nashof_official) After his death was announced, several artists took to social media to pay tribute to the legendary songwriter, including Sara Evans, who recorded several songs by James including “Cheatin'” and “Big Cry.” “I am absolutely devastated at the loss of one of the best writers I’ve ever written with and recorded several of his songs. Brett James. I’m praying for his loved ones. What a tragic and sad day. He will be so missed.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Evans (@saraevansmusic) There’s no word yet on what caused the crash, but the FAA and NTSB are investigating.The post Grammy-Winning Country Songwriter Brett James Killed In North Carolina Plane Crash first appeared on Whiskey Riff.