What was Brett James' first hit song? Country star's career explored amid his tragic death in a plane crash at 57

Country singer Brett James' first hit song was Who I Am, which he wrote for Jessica Andrews. The song landed #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

James died on September 18 at 57, when the plane that he was piloting crashed in North Carolina. He was one of the three people who perished. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame first announced his passing in a Facebook post. They also took to Instagram to announce his death and wrote,

"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-enging airplance crash on September 18. He was 57."

James' SR22T plane took off from Nashville's John C. Tune Airport on September 18, before it crashed in North Carolina. He was known for penning hits like Carrie Underwood's Jesus, Take the Wheel, Kenny Chesney's Out Last Night and more.

More about Brett James' career

Brett James was born in Columbia, Missouri, on June 5th, 1968. After graduating from high school, he pursued a Bachelor of Science degree at Baylor University in Waco in 1991.

While James initially set out to become a doctor, he also nurtured a passion for country music. He eventually signed with Arista Nashville’s imprint, Career Records, as a solo artist and released his debut album in 1995. In the early years of his career, he wrote songs for artists such as Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Chesney, and Martina McBride. His breakthrough came in 2001 with Jessica Andrews’ hit Who I Am. Earlier this year, during an appearance on PBS’s The Songwriters series, James shared,

"I always say there's two ways to grow old as a songwriter. One way is to sit iwth a young 18-year old or 19-year old and think you know everything...And the other is to listen, and the other is to learn. What I'm trying to do every day now, is to soak up the brilliance of the young kids that I am fortunate enough to work with and then sprinkle in whatever experience and knowledge that I have."

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He also went on to land 27 country chart-toppers, including McBride's Blessed, Chesney's Out Last Night, Underwood's Cowboy Casanova, Bentley's I Hold On, and Chris Young's The Man I Want to Be.

Brett James also wrote for Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, the Fray, and Daughtry. In 2020, James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and also released his first self-written artist collection in over 20 years, I am Now. He was also named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year in 2006 and 2010.

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