Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter Brett James was flying on his private jet with his new wife and her 28-year-old daughter, who had just celebrated her birthday, when the plane crashed and killed them, officials said Friday.
James, 57 — who co-wrote and wrote songs for Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley and Carrie Underwood — was with wife Melody Wilson, 59, and her daughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson, on the hitmaker’s Cirrus SR22T when it crashed in an open field in Franklin, North Carolina, Thursday afternoon, according to the Daily Mail.
Wilson, who lived with James in a lavish $2 million Nashville home since at least 2020, had wished her daughter a happy 28th birthday just one day before the plane went down.
“Happy Birthday my Love!! How Blessed am I to be your Momma!” she wrote on Instagram Wednesday.
“You’re the MOST BEAUTIFUL AMAZING HUMAN inside and out! I’m humbled and grateful everyday for your shining presence in my life!” she added. “No words can express what a gift you are to me and everyone that KNOWS YOU.”
Meryl Wilson, meanwhile, celebrated her birthday with an Instagram post declaring, “28 years old. 142 days sober. Extremely Happy to be here.”
James’ single-engine aircraft had departed from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville before it inexplicably slammed into the field, near Iotla Valley Elementary School, at around 3 p.m. Thursday. No students or faculty were injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating what caused the crash.
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On New Year’s Day 2022, Wilson posted pictures of her and James — who wrote the Underwood hit “Jesus Take The Wheel” and “The Truth” by Jason Aldean — getting married. “What an awesome year! August 21st Brett and I got married. Lucky me,” she wrote.
Wilson often posted glamorous photos of herself and James traveling the world, playing golf or lounging by swimming pools.
Over the past eight years, James released five singles that reached Billboard’s country chart and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020.
His songs were also recorded by pop and rock artists such as Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi and Nick Jonas.
James is survived by his four grown children, who he shared with ex-wife Sandra Cornelius-Little.
One of James’ final instagram posts was a sweet shot of himself grinning with his kids on June 16.
“Such an amazing Father’s Day!!” he wrote in the caption.
Fellow musician Jessi Alexander, who wrote Miley Cyrus’s tune “The Climb,” mourned James’ death on social media Friday.
“Music Row will never be the same,” she said of Nashville’s legendary recording studio-dotted neighborhood.
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