One of the many hits written by the late, great Brett James. The Grammy Award-winning country songwriter was tragically killed in a plane crash back on September 18, 2025, when the plane he was piloting crashed near Franklin, North Carolina after taking off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville. His wife and stepdaughter were also killed in the crash, which is still under investigation by the NTSB. After his death, tributes to James began pouring in from the many artists he worked with over his hitmaking career. Carrie Underwood, who won a Grammy for the Brett James-penned “Jesus Take the Wheel,” shared a touching tribute in the wake of his passing: “Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away. It will forever be a reminder that this life is but a moment…we have to make the most of each day we’re given here on earth. Each day is a gift. I’m asking all of you to pray for his family, friends and all of us that were blessed enough to know Brett. Love you, man. I’ll see you again someday.” View this post on Instagram And Jason Aldean dedicated his own Brett James-written hit, “The Truth,” to the late songwriter shortly after his death: “He also wrote this next song, which ended up being one of the biggest songs of my career. So tonight we want to send this out to our friend that we lost tonight, our boy Mr. Brett James. This one’s called The Truth.” @jasonaldeanmusic Heartbroken to hear of the loss of my friend Brett James tonight. I had nothing but love and respect for that guy and he helped change my life. Honored to have met him and worked with him. Thoughts and prayers going out to his family. ♬ original sound – Jason Aldean After his death, Kenny Chesney opened up on how hard it was to perform “When The Sun Goes Down” for the first time after James passed away. The song was a solo write from James and became a #1 hit for Chesney and Uncle Kracker back in 2004: “The first time I sang one of his songs after he passed was at Farm Aid with Willie Nelson in Minneapolis. And all of a sudden it hit me. I was going to do a song called ‘When the Sun Goes Down,’ which he wrote by himself. And it was the first time it was really- the wound was really open. It was really fresh, his passing. And I had to go up there and sing that song.” At that point, Kenny had only performed the song once since James passed away, but said that when he performed it in the future it would be a celebration of James: “I haven’t had to sing it since. But I’m going to, because I’m not going to let that stop me. It’s almost like in a celebratory way now.” And last night at the CMA Awards, Kenny was true to his word and used his performance to honor Brett James. Kenny performed two of his hits, “American Kids” and “When the Sun Goes Down.” And at the end of the performance, he made sure to include a tribute to his late friend, flashing pictures of James on the screen behind him before ending it with a shoutout to James. For some reason the awards show didn’t include an “In Memoriam” segment this year, so it was nice to see Kenny take it upon himself to pay tribute to the legendary songwriter.The post Kenny Chesney Paid Tribute To Late Songwriter Brett James With “When The Sun Goes Down” Performance At The CMA Awards first appeared on Whiskey Riff.