Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter Brett James, 57, was killed in a private plane crash Thursday in Franklin, North Carolina, along with his new wife, Melody Wilson, 59, and her 28-year-old daughter, Meryl Maxwell Wilson, who had just celebrated her birthday, officials said Friday.
James, known for writing and co-writing hits for artists such as Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, and Carrie Underwood, was aboard his Cirrus SR22T with his family when the plane went down in an open field, according to the Daily Mail.
Wilson, who had lived with James in their $2 million Nashville home since at least 2020, had wished her daughter a happy 28th birthday just a day before the tragic accident.
Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter Brett James, his wife Melody Wilson, and her daughter Meryl Maxwell Wilson died in a plane crash.
Just two days before the tragedy, Wilson had shared a heartfelt birthday message for her daughter on Instagram:
“Happy Birthday my Love!! How Blessed am I to be your Momma!” she wrote Wednesday.
“You’re the MOST BEAUTIFUL AMAZING HUMAN inside and out! I’m humbled and grateful every day for your shining presence in my life! No words can express what a gift you are to me and everyone that KNOWS YOU,” she added.
Meryl also marked the milestone on Instagram, posting, “28 years old. 142 days sober. Extremely Happy to be here.”
Meryl Maxwell Wilson had just celebrated her 28th birthday.
James’ single-engine aircraft departed from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville before it inexplicably crashed into a field near Iotla Valley Elementary School around 3 p.m. Thursday. Fortunately, no students or faculty were injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.
On New Year’s Day 2022, Wilson shared photos of her and James — the Grammy-winning songwriter behind hits like Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel” and Jason Aldean’s “The Truth” — celebrating their wedding. “What an awesome year! August 21st Brett and I got married. Lucky me,” she wrote.
Wilson frequently posted glamorous photos of the couple traveling, playing golf, or relaxing by pools.
Over the past eight years, James released five singles that reached Billboard’s country charts and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020.
James’ songs were also recorded by pop and rock artists, including the Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, and Nick Jonas.
He is survived by his four grown children, whom he shared with ex-wife Sandra Cornelius-Little.
One of James’ final Instagram posts, shared on June 16, showed him grinning with his kids. “Such an amazing Father’s Day!!” he wrote in the caption.
Fellow musician Jessi Alexander, who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’s hit “The Climb,” mourned James’ passing on social media Friday. “Music Row will never be the same,” she said of Nashville’s iconic recording studio district.
