Brett James Cornelius (June 5, 1968 – September 18, 2025) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. His compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists.[2] Signed to Career Records (a division of Arista Nashville) as a solo artist in 1995, James had three singles chart and released a self-titled debut album that year. Returning to Arista as a recording artist in 2002, he released two more singles.

From the early 2000s, James became known primarily as a songwriter for other country and pop music artists. Among his compositions was Carrie Underwood's 2006 number-one hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel", which received Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. His writer's credits included number-one hits for Jessica Andrews, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, Rodney Atkins, and Jason Aldean.

James was killed when his airplane crashed on September 18, 2025.