“A Very Difficult Goodbye”: Kenny Chesney Pens Moving Homage to Late Friend and Co-Writer, Brett James

Kenny Chesney has taken to social media to pay tribute to his late friend and collaborator, Brett James. The ‘Knowing You’ co-writer died in a plane crash last week.

James and Chesney joined forces on an array of stand-outs from the latter's discography, including ‘Reality’, ‘Out Last Night’, ‘Keg in the Closet’ and ‘When the Sun Goes Down’.

James also co-wrote the iconic ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’, recorded by Carrie Underwood in 2007. The intricate, faith-filled track earned them the Best Country Song Grammy.

In the newly shared post, Kenny Chesney warmly reflects, “A very difficult goodbye to my Brother Of The Sun Brett James. I haven’t wanted to post cause I didn’t want to believe it. Brett and I shared a unique bond. A Brotherhood. A kinship. We wrote Reality and Out Last Night on the same afternoon sitting on my pool deck in the Virgin Islands two days after Christmas. We had a lot of authentic life fun writing songs together over the years and I’m sure going to miss it”.

The ‘Beer in Mexico’ hitmaker heartbreakingly outlines that a piece of him has been lost for good, “It’s hard to process his creative soul being gone. This kind of loss. I feel as if part of my creative soul went with him. It will be a void in my life and creativity forever. I’ve never known writing songs or being on the road without him”.

The Knoxville native goes on, “Half the songs in my shows are songs he wrote or songs we wrote together. So it’s impossible for me to do shows moving forward and not think about him. I can’t believe I’m saying it but adios Brett James. Thank you for being a lifer, for being a shirtless, sunburned troubadour, for your friendship, your songs and all the laughs. Save me a seat at the After Party!”

Chesney concludes with a few poignant lyrics from ‘Knowing You’, “God we were so alive / I was a kid on a carnival ride / Holding my breath til the moment you were gonna leave me to soon / But I’d do it all over cause damn it was good Knowing You”.

It serves as a fitting, sincere tribute to a man that has had a colossal impact on country music over the past three decades or so, with James playing a pivotal role in crafting a plethora of chart-topping songs designed to uplift, inspire or simply offer solace.

While songwriters are often, by nature, chameleonic and shape-shift depending on which artist they are writing for, James managed to leave a subtle signature in many of his songs indicating that he was a part of its creation - namely, a sense of joie-de-vivre and a persistent belief that the lustrous sunshine would outweigh the heavy storm-clouds. Those mourning his loss will no doubt be leaning on the optimism and hope he laced into his music during this time.

Last week, James died in a a single-engine Cirrus SR22T plane crash in North Carolina, along with two fellow passengers. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, with a host of artists joining Chesney in paying respect to the prolific songsmith, including Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean.

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