Carrie Underwood Mourns ‘Unfathomable’ Death of Brett James

Carrie Underwood is paying tribute to Brett James, who wrote her smash No. 1 hit “Jesus Take the Wheel” and who died Thursday at the age of 57 in a plane crash in North Carolina.

Underwood took to Instagram on Friday to share an emotional tribute to the Grammy-winning songwriter as well as a few photos of the two of them, who worked together on multiple songs throughout their careers, throughout the years.

“Some things are just unfathomable,” she began. “The loss of Brett James to his family, friends and our music community is too great to put into words.

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She called him the “epitome of ‘cool,’” “riding up to my cabins to write on his motorcycle…his hair somehow perfectly coiffed despite being under a helmet for however long.”

She praised him as a “good guy,” recounting a story about how she felt he deserved more than a 50/50 split on their songwriting credit for a song they were working on. “He wouldn’t have it. He insisted that everything be equal,” she wrote. “He was just that kind of guy…”

She wrote that “the only comfort we can hold on to now” is that James “loved the Lord.”

“My favorite songs to sing of ours are the ones that he or we wrote about Jesus because the thoughts and feelings behind them are so genuine and pure. I won’t ever sing one note of them again without thinking of him.”

“Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away,” she wrote.

“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.”

While James’ seismic career event was taking home a Grammy for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Jesus Take the Wheel,” he also wrote many other songs not just for Underwood but for dozens of other country and mainstream pop artists, writing 26 No. 1 songs over the course of his 20-plus year career.

“Cowboy Casanova,” “Flat on the Floor,” “Game On,” “Love Wins,” and “Not Tonight” are other Underwood songs he’s responsible for.

Other country artists he wrote songs for include Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jessica Andrews, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Rodney Atkins and Jason Aldean. He was inducted into the Nashville Hall of Fame in 2020.

Mainstream pop and rock acts he wrote for include Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson and the Backstreet Boys.

An investigation into the cause of the fatal plane crash in ongoing. Two other people, Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson, were killed in the crash.