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On This Day in 2022, We Said Goodbye to the Award-Winning Country Singer Turned First Responder
Four years ago on this day (March 26) in 2022, ’90s country singer Jeff Carson—known for hits like “Not On Your Love” and “The Car”—died from a heart attack at Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 58 years old.
Videos by American Songwriter
Born Jeffrey Lee Herndon in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Dec. 16, 1963, Carson grew up in the small Arkansas town of Gravette, where he played harmonica and sang in church. In high school, he and his friends formed a band to play at their school’s talent show. Their performance of the Eagles’ “Seven Bridges Road” took home second place, and Carson decided to pursue a career in music.
After graduating, he competed in another talent show in Rogers, Arkansas. While Carson didn’t take home the top prize, the winner invited him to play in his house band—which he did, until the group split four years later.
Later, Carson headed to Branson, Missouri, where he wrote songs and played bass in local bands. That’s also where he met his wife, Kim Cooper Carson, who convinced him to move to Nashville in 1989.
After relocating to Music City, Carson joined the band Texana, who played at the Opryland Hotel. Eventually, he persuaded the hotel to book him as a solo act. Carson recorded demos for other artists until his material reached producer Chuck Howard, who helped him ink a deal with Curbs Records in 1994.
[RELATED: Country Singer Jeff Carson Dead at 58]
Why Jeff Carson Left Country Music Behind
Jeff Carson released his self-titled debut album in 1995, which spawned his only No. 1 hit, “Not on Your Love”, along with Top 10 songs “The Car” and “Holdin’ Onto Something”. “The Car” earned him an Academy of Country Music Award for Video of the Year.
Carson subsequently released two albums, 1997’s Butterfly Kisses and 2001’s Real Life. Both reached the Top 40 on the Country Albums chart, and the latter gave him the last major hit of his career, “Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)”.
In 2008, following the birth of his son, Jeff Carson walked away from country music and joined the Franklin Police Department.
“I had to get a job,” Carson explained in a later interview. “I couldn’t make music and make a living with that anymore. So I had to walk away from music and in 2008 became a police officer at the tender age of 44.”
He remained with the department until his death.
Featured image by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
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