’90s country hitmaker Jeff Carson has died at the age of 58. The news was shared in a press release from his publicist who wrote that Carson passed away of a heart attack at Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, Tennessee, on Saturday.
Jeff Carson signed with Curb Records in 1994, roughly five years after he moved to Nashville where he found work performing in a band at Opryland and recording demos for artists such as Tracy Byrd, Tracy Lawrence, Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw and Diamond Rio.
Carson’s debut single, “Yeah Buddy,” was released to radio later that year, followed by “Not On Your Love,” which was the singer’s first and only No. 1 song. His follow-up sing, “The Car,” topped out at number two and won Carson his first Academy of Country Music award for “Video of the Year.” The video beat out Junior Brown’s “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead,” Travis Tritt’s “Tell Me I Was Dreaming,” “Not That Different” by Collin Raye, and John Michael Montgomery’s “Sold (the Grundy County Auction Incident).”
Carson’s other singles included “Real Life (Was Never The Same Again),” “Holdin’ Onto Somethin’” and “Butterfly Kisses.” Over the course of his career, Jeff Carson charted 14 singles on the Billboard chart.
In 2009, Carson retired from music and joined the Franklin Police Department in Williamson County, Tennessee, where he served as a full-time police officer. According to the press release, Carson recently signed with Encore Music Group and has been in the studio recording an album set to be released later this year that included duets with Michael Ray, Darryl Worley, Mark Wills, and Craig Morgan.
Jeff Carson continued to maintain his social media music pages with updates and cover videos, including his rendition of “I Can Only Imagine” that was posted just six weeks ago.
Jeff Carson is survived by his wife Kim Cooper Carson, son Dayton Grei Herndon Carson, mother Virginia Norton, brother Steve Herndon, sister Karen Spurlock, as well as aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.