Dierks Bentley Pays Tribute to Late Friend and Nashville Legend With a Moving ACM Honors Performance of the Song They Wrote Together

Dierks Bentley delivered an emotional tribute to his late friend and songwriting collaborator Brett James during the ACM Honors event in Nashville, performing their co-written song "I Hold On". James, his wife and daughter died in a small plane crash near Franklin, North Carolina, in September 2025,