Songwriter Brett James

In this songwriter profile we’ll take a look at one of Nashville’s biggest hit makers, Brett James. He’s had over 300 songs recorded and has worked on albums with combined sales of over 100 million copies. He’s the founder and CEO of Cornman Music and considered one of the most influential songwriters in Nashville.
How He Got To Songwriting
Medical school! That’s right, Brett James Cornelius was in medical school in Oklahoma then left to become a recording artist on Career Records (subsidiary of Arista). He returned to medical school for a brief period, until he started writing for others and co-writing in the early 2000’s. He later became a record producer, eventually founding his own company. Full Bio
His Songs & Songwriting Process
- Complete list of songs written by Brett James
CMA Songwriter Series “You Save Me”
ASCAP Expo: On Songwriting
CMA Songwriter Series – Library Of Congress
Performs “Jesus Take The Wheel” at the Bluebird Cafe
Brett James’ Stats
Arrived In Nashville | |
First Song On Charts | |
#1 Songs (Pop & Country charts) | |
ASCAP Songwriter of the Year | |
Grammy for Best Country Song |
Web Kitchen Sink
- “Somethin’ Bad” – Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood
- “I Hold On” – Dierks Bentley
- “Reality” – Kenny Chesney
- Songwriter Universe’s David Kawashima
- Story Behind The Song “Out Last Night” from The Tennessean
- Trades Medicine For Music from The Boot
- Get To Know Music-City Hit-Maker from CMChat
Songwriters Brett James’ Has Gotten Cuts With
I restricted this list to songwriters on another artists record unless they are a singer-songwriter. So if it was for their own, they’re not listed here.
A – L | M – Z |
Walter Afanasieff | Jodi Marr |
Kelly Archer | Dennis Matkosky |
Hunter Armistead | Aimee Mayo |
John Bettis | Kevin Mason |
Steve Bogard | Terry McBride |
Terry Clayton | Thom McHugh |
Jim Collins | Joey Moi |
Brad Crisler | Ashley Monroe |
Blair Daly | Sam Mullins |
Ester Dean | Tim Nichols |
Jay DeMarcus | Jamie O’Neal |
Dillon Dixon | Angelo Petraglia |
Marty Dodson | Justin Andrew Pollard |
Katrina Elam | Jimmy Ritchey |
Mike Elizondo | Frank Rogers |
Kevin Fisher | Joe Don Rooney |
Chris Farren | Rivers Rutherford |
Steven Greenberg | Gordie Sampson |
Dean Grakal | Leslie Satcher |
Del Gray | Don Schlitz |
Lucy Hale | John Shanks |
Jedd Hughes | Tom Shapiro |
Ronnie Jackson | Caitlyn Smith |
Tommy Lee James | Jay Smith |
Doug Johnson | Shaye Smith |
Dante Jones | Josh Turner |
Brian Kennedy | Carrie Underwood |
Jennifer Kimball | Troy Verges |
Chad Kroeger | Justin Weaver |
Luke Laird | Fred Wilhelm |
Holly Lamar | Lonnie Wilson |
Chris Lindsey | |
Hilary Lindsey | |
Bill Luther |