Sad news out of Nashville tonight.
Jeff Carson, the ACM Award-winning singer and songwriter best known for 1990s hits like “The Car” and “Not On Your Love,” has passed away after a heart attack at the age of 58.
Carson, whose real name was Jeffrey Lee Herndon, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1963 and eventually moved to Nashville and began recording demos. Carson was later signed to Curb Records, and he got his first #1 with “Not On Your Love,” the second single from his self-titled debut album.
One of his biggest hits was “The Car,” which won Carson an ACM Award for Video of the Year.
Overall, Carson had 14 singles on the Billboard charts before he retired from music in 2009 to become a police officer with the Franklin Police Department just outside of Nashville, where he remained until his death.
Carson had recently returned to music, signing with Encore Music Group, and had been in the studio recording a speciality album to be released later this year containing duets with artists like Michael Ray, Darryl Worley, Mark Wills and Craig Morgan.
And just last weekend, Carson performed at a fundraiser for a Franklin police officer who has been hospitalized since January with COVID and pneumonia.
Just hours before his death, Carson shared a photo of himself and Kenny Chesney wishing Kenny a happy birthday.
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.
Thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and all of his colleagues the Franklin Police Department.