post<\/a> on Instagram Monday, Sept. 22, several days after James died when the plane he was piloting crashed in North Carolina. Chesney admitted he didn\u2019t want to post anything because he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to believe\u201d the tragic news.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cBrett and I shared a unique bond,\u201d he wrote. \u201cA brotherhood. A kinship. We wrote \u2018Reality\u2019 and \u2018Out Last Night\u2019 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\u2019m sure going to miss it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tSpeaking to just how prolific their partnership was, Chesney noted that half the songs in his setlist are songs James wrote or co-wrote. \u201cSo it\u2019s impossible for me to do shows moving forward and not think about him,\u201d Chesney said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
\n\tHe added: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to process his creative soul being gone. This kind of loss. I feel as if part of my creative soul went with him. It will be a void in my life and creativity forever. I\u2019ve never known writing songs or being on the road without him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tChesney closed out his post with a few lines from 2021\u2019s \u201cKnowing You,\u201d which James wrote with Adam James and Kat Higgins: \u201cGod 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\u2019d do it all over cause damn it was good Knowing You.\u201d<\/p>\n