“I Will Trust God’s Will No Matter What” – Parker McCollum Dedicates Performance Of “Stoned” To Brett James Following Tragic Death

On Thursday, September 18, Grammy-winning songwriter, Brett James, and his wife and stepdaughter were tragically killed in a North Carolina plane crash.

According to authorities in Macon County, NC,  the Cirrus SR22T with tail number N218VB took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville shortly after noon on Thursday before crashing near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, North Carolina. Luckily, all students and staff at the elementary school were safe, but all three passengers on the plane were killed in the crash. The plane was registered to James, who was piloting the aircraft.

James, who had 27 career #1 hits, a Grammy win for Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take The Wheel” and over 800 songs recorded by artists throughout his career, was undoubtedly one of the premier songwriters in country music over the past three decades.

Following his death, a plethora of different artists grieved the loss of their friend. Namely, Underwood, Tim McGraw and Sara Evans took to social media to pen touching tributes to the late songwriter. Jason Aldean would also dedicate his performance of “The Truth,” a song James wrote along with Ashley Monroe, at his Lincoln, Nebraska show over the weekend.

Parker McCollum, who also had an incredibly close relationship with James, also took time over the weekend to honor the “Jesus, Take The Wheel” songwriter’s legacy at his show in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Early in the concert, McCollum would pause the show to note the fact that James co-wrote half of his 2023 album, Never Enough, and briefly listed off all of his accomplishments, which includes the aforementioned Grammy win for “Jesus, Take The Wheel,” #1 hits with Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down” and “Knowing You,” Chris Young’s “The Man I Want to Be,” Miranda Lambert’s “Somethin’ Bad” and more:

“I wrote half of my album, ‘Never Enough,’ with Brett. He was a good friend of mine. And he wrote ‘Jesus, Take The Wheel,’ ‘When the Sun Goes Down,’ ‘Knowing You.’ I mean, songs for the Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, you name it. Over 800 songs of Brett’s were recorded by artists from all kinds of genres. [He] won on a Grammy for ‘Jesus, Take The Wheel.’ I believe he was 55 or 56 years young, man, and his wife and his stepdaughter went with him. He was a pilot flying his own plane. And like I said, I wrote half of my album, which was called ‘Never Enough;’ me and Brett wrote a lot of those songs together. An unbelievable talent.”

He’d then ask the crowd to raise a toast to James and his family, also noting that James played a key role in the recording of his fan-favorite, 2022 single, “Stoned:”

“I would ask you tonight, Charlotte, if you got a drink in your hand, hold it up like that to Brett James and his family. I’ll be keeping his family and him in my prayers. This next song right here, Brett and I wrote this song together in Nashville, Tennessee. And I played it for a couple other people who just didn’t get it, and they didn’t really think it was worth any effort. And I played it for Brett one time, and he was like, ‘Holy sh*t, we gotta finish that.'”

Before dedicating the performance of “Stoned” to James, McCollum would tell the crowd how hard of a year it’s been, undoubtedly in reference to both James and Charlie Kirk’s death last week, before reminding them to trust in God’s plan:

“And I tell you what, between everything that’s happened this year, man, it seems like this year sucks. There’s some heavy stuff this year, but I will trust God’s plan and I will trust God’s will no matter what. He’s making it a little harder to do so lately, and maybe that’s all part of the plan, too. But I appreciate y’all showing some love to Brett James and his family tonight. I wrote this next song with him, and I’d like to send it up to Brett and his family. I’m sure they’re still flying up there somewhere high tonight, getting to meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Brett, I love you, buddy. Man, I’ll see you writing songs up there in heaven. We love you, we’re thinking about you, we’ll keep you in our prayers, man. One of the greatest country music songwriters to ever live.”

Nothing short of a touching tribute from McCollum as the entire country community continues to keep the James family in their prayers.

Watch here:

@catcher33riley Rest in peace Brett James #parkermccollum #countrymusic #fyp @parkermccollum ♬ original sound – Riley

“Stoned”

The post “I Will Trust God’s Will No Matter What” – Parker McCollum Dedicates Performance Of “Stoned” To Brett James Following Tragic Death first appeared on Whiskey Riff.