Country Star Jason Aldean Mourns Brett James With Heartfelt Tribute After Plane Crash

Jason Aldean is just one of many who are taking the time to pay tribute to Brett James after the 57-year-old Grammy winner tragically passed away in a plane crash on Sept. 18.

Nashville’s WZTV reports that a private plane registered to James crashed near an elementary school in Franklin, North Carolina. James was one of three people on board, and there were no survivors.

Along with Aldean, James has written songs for artists including Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney,, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, and many others.

Jason Aldean Is “Heartbroken” Over Brett James’s Passing

Following the news of James’ passing, Aldean posted a video on Instagram of him honoring the songwriter at his concert at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Thursday. He detailed how he learned of the news just moments before taking the stage.

“This next song is a song that was one of the songs that was early on in my career that I think was a really big song for my career and for kind of letting people know who we were and what we were about, you know what I mean? We got a little bit of some sad news tonight right before we came on stage. A longtime friend of ours, the guy that wrote this song, actually, we found out today died in a plane crash in North Carolina,” Aldean said to the crowd. “This guy has written a lot of stuff for us over the years.”

“He also wrote this next song, which ended up being one of the biggest songs of my career,” the country star added. “So tonight we want to send this out to our friend that we lost tonight, our boy Mr. Brett James.” 

Aldean went on to perform, ““The Truth,” which was written by Brett James with Ashley Monroe, and was featured on his Wide Open album.

Along with posting the video, he also included a touching caption, enplaning James’ impact on his life and in the music industry.

“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. 💔,” Aldean wrote.

Dierks Bentley Issues Touching Statement Following Brett James’s Passing

“Rest in peace pal. Total stud. Fellow aviator. One of the best singer-songwriters in our town….total legend.
I brought a couple of roughy sketched verse ideas of I Hold On to Brett after my dad died and he just did his thing. The chorus is all him. When I sing that song live, I’m always thinking of my dad, but I also think about that day we wrote it. He just got it, just lit into it. It was one of the first times we wrote and I decided to drop the most meaningful and necessary idea of a song I had on him, because I felt like God was telling me to do so. Our friendship and that song changed my life. 💔 Prayers for his family @brettjamessongs,” Bentley wrote on Instagram.