Count Jason Aldean as one of the many artists who recorded songs written by Brett James. James passed away in a plane crash on Thursday, September 18. Aldean recorded a few songs by James, including “The Truth,” which became a No. 1 hit for Aldean in 2009.
“This next song’s a song that was one of those songs that was early on in my career, that I think was a really big song for my career,” Aldean shares. “Kind of letting people know who we were and what we we were about. We got a little bit of sad news tonight, right before we came on stage. A longtime friend of ours, a guy that wrote this song, actually found out today died in a plane crash in North Carolina. This guy has written a lot of stuff for us over the years.
“If anybody’s familiar with the albums, we had a song called ‘Two Night Town’ that this guy wrote,” he continues. “Had a song on I think the second album that we did with Miranda Lambert that this guy wrote. And he also wrote this next song, which ended up being one of the biggest songs of my career. So tonight we send this out to our friend that we lost tonight, Mr. Brett James. This one’s called ‘The Truth.'”
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The Story Behind “The Truth”
Aldean includes “The Truth” on Wide Open, his third studio record. James wrote the song with Ashley Monroe.
“I just fell in love with the song and knew I wanted to cut it. ‘ It’s my favorite song on the album,” Aldean previously told The Boot.
“It’s one of those things where things happen, and you’re hurting inside and don’t want anyone else to know,” he adds. “You don’t want to damage your pride by letting your feelings out there too much.”
By the time James and Monroe wrote “The Truth,” they had already established a strong connection as co-writers.
“I started writing with Ashley when she was 15 years old,” James says (via Songfacts). “She’s one of my favorite singer-songwriters in the world. … We had the title ‘The Truth’ when we sat down to write. We started talking about what to do to make people interested in finding out what ‘the truth’ meant. We created this character who would rather not talk about the truth, but the opposite of the truth instead. We all have that amount of pride deep down of trying to not let the world know that we’re heartbroken. The song came effortlessly for us. It was an easy write.”
Other Artists Honor Brett James
Numerous other artists have honored James since news of his passing was announced, including Carrie Underwood
“Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away,” Underwood says in part. “It will forever be a reminder that this life is but a moment…we have to make the most of each day we’re given here on earth. Each day is a gift. I’m asking all of you to pray for his family, friends and all of us that were blessed enough to know Brett. Love you, man. I’ll see you again someday.”
Dierks Bentley also honored James. The two wrote “I Hold On” together, one of Bentley’s biggest hits, and also his most personal.
“Rest in peace pal,” Bentley writes. “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,” he continues. “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.”
James was reportedly killed along with his wife and stepdaughter. He is survived by four adult children.