Jeff Carson life and biography

Jeffrey Lee Herndon, known professionally as Jeff Carson, was an American country music artist. Originally a session musician in Branson, Missouri and later a demo singer, he was signed to Curb Records in 1995, releasing his self-titled debut album that year, followed by Butterfly Kisses in 1998 and Real Life in 2002. He has charted fourteen singles on the Billboard country charts, including the Number One hit "Not on Your Love", the Top Ten hits "The Car" and "Holdin' Onto Somethin'" and the Top 20 "Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)." Carson retired from music in 2009 and became a police officer.

Jeff Carson was one of the new country singers who was able to parlay the mass success of country music in the early '90s to a massive hit with his eponymous first album.

Carson was born Dec. 16, 1964, in Tulsa, Okla., but raised in the small Arkansas town of Gravette. As a child, he sang in church and played harmonica and guitar. While he was in high school, he and his friends formed a band to play their school's talent show, performing the Eagles' "Seven Bridges Road." After they won second place, Carson was convinced to pursue a musical career. Following his high-school graduation, he entered a talent contest at an entertainment complex called Ozark Mountain Music in Rogers, Ark. Although he didn't come in first, the winner asked Carson to play in his house band. For the next four years, he played with the outfit, until they finally disbanded.

Carson moved to Branson, Mo, where he played bass in local bands and started writing his own songs. In Branson, he met and married his wife, Kim Cooper, who encouraged him to move to Nashville. Kim had a friend who played at the Opryland Hotel and his group Texana needed a bassist -- hence, Carson moved to Music City in 1989. After some persuasion, he convinced the hotel to book him as a solo act. Around the same time, he signed a songwriting deal with Little Big Town Music and began singing on demo tapes for a variety of companies. Eventually, publisher-producer Chuck Howard heard Carson's original material and signed a publishing and development deal with him.

By 1994, Carson had signed with Curb Records. His self-titled debut album was released in early 1995; the first single, "Yeah Buddy," went nowhere, but the second single, "Not on Your Love," rocketed to No. 1. It was followed by the Top 10 hits "The Car" and "Holdin' On to Somethin'." Future singles were unsuccessful until "Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)" revived his career, peaking at No. 14 in 2001.

Carson charted again in 2003 with his cover of the Christian pop hit "I Can Only Imagine", a cut from a multi-artist compilation called God Bless the USA 2003. He also co-wrote the track "Where Has My Hometown Gone" on Craig Morgan's album I Love It, as well as Elbert West's single "Kimberly Cooper's Eyes". A duet with Lisa Brokop entitled "God Save the World", released in 2005, also failed to chart. His most recent single, "When You Said You Loved Me", was sent to radio in early 2007, as the lead-off single to an upcoming Greatest Hits package. The single failed to chart, however, and his Greatest Hits album was cancelled. In February 2009, he retired from the music business and joined the Franklin, Tennessee, police force as a full-time police officer.

Carson died from a heart attack at a hospital in Franklin, Tennessee, on March 26, 2022, at the age of 58.

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