At the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala, Kenny Chesney honored his late friend Brett James with a heartfelt tribute. His stripped-down performance of When The Sun Goes Down moved the entire room to tears. With one whispered line, he brought everyone to complete silence.

James told a humorous story about Chesney in his final interview recorded a week before his death

Brett James and Kenny Chesney in Nashville in April 2012.Credit : Rick Diamond/Getty

Kenny Chesney is remembering his collaborator Brett James.

The country star paid tribute to James in a poignant Instagram post on Monday, Sept. 22. James died in a plane crash on Thursday, Sept. 18, when a plane went down in Franklin, N.C. He was 57. His wife, Melody Carole, and her daughter Meryl Wilson were also on board and did not survive.

“I haven’t wanted to post cause I didn’t want to believe it,” Chesney, 57, began. “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.”

Chesney wrote that it was “hard to process his creative soul being gone.” “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.”

“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.”

The country singer thanked James 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!🙏😎🧡🌴☀️💔”

BRett James and Kenny Chesney in Nashville in April 2012.Rick Diamond/Getty

Chesney also included the lyrics to his 2020 song “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.”

Perhaps the best-known song Chesney and James worked on together was the title track for the 2004 album When the Sun Goes Down, which features Uncle Kracker. Other notable songs James wrote for Chesney include “Out Last Night” and “Keg In the Closet.”

James did his final interview one week before the fatal plane crash. Speaking on Now Hear This Entertainment and released on Wednesday, Sept. 24, James raved about Chesney.

“I’ve been blessed enough to have had I think over 40 songs recorded by a guy named Kenny Chesney, who is one of my dear friends and one of my favorite artists on planet Earth,” he said at one point during the episode with Recording Academy member Bruce Wawrzyniak.

He also recalled a special songwriting session they had the day after Christmas one year, which Chesney hinted at in his Instagram caption.

“We have a little bit of a reputation for this, we went just a little bit crazy that night,” James said. “Long story short, the next morning I woke up at his house, got some coffee, grabbed my guitar and went on his back deck and I just sat there and looked at the prettiest view I’d ever seen in my life for a couple hours.”

Eventually, Chesney stuck his head out of his sliding glass door to his room, and told James that they “went out last night” and determined that their experience was perfect material for a song. A couple of hours later, the duo wrote the 2009 song “Out Last Night.”

After lunch, they worked on a song together called “Reality.”

“All we did was have fun that day. There was no pressure to write a song, there was no pressure to write a hit, there was no pressure to do anything except enjoy each other’s company and make some stuff up and have some laughs.”

James concluded that it was one of his favorite days of his whole life.

Kenny Chesney via Instagram.Kenny Chesney/Instagram

James also spoke about his favorite thing about being a part of the music scene in Nashville for decades. “I always say that my favorite thing about being a songwriter in Nashville for 30 plus years is the friendships you make,” he said on the podcast.

Carrie Underwood, with whom James wrote “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” also paid tribute to the Grammy-winning songwriter.

“Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away,” she wrote on Instagram. “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.”