Carl Carlton, the artist behind popular songs such as “She’s A Bad Mama Jama” and “Everlasting Love” passed away at the age of 72.

Carl Carlton of ‘She’s a Bad Mama Jama’ is Dead at 72

Carl Carlton has passed away at the age of 72 after a long illness. His son, Carlton Hudgens II, posted on Facebook to announce his father’s death on December 14, 2020. In the post, the younger Carlton shares a photo of his father and says “RIP Dad” with a brief message about his father’s legacy. The post from his son’s account was shared on the Facebook Stories feature.

According to Soultracks.com, Carlton had a stroke six years before his death.

Carl Carlton was born in 1953 in Detroit, Michigan and started his music career during the 1960’s. He made his performing debut as “Little Carl Carlton”, but later dropped “Little” and began performing as simply “Carl Carlton” in 1971 after his song “I Can Feel It” hit the Billboard Soul Singles chart according to Syracuse.com. In 1974, he achieved success with the cover of “Everlasting Love” reaching the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and since then has remained one of the best-selling songs of all time with over 25 million streams on Spotify.

Carl Carlton’s Signature Hit and Lasting Legacy

Carl Carlton is best known for “She’s a Bad Mama Jama,” the signature hit that solidified his legacy. While his first notable hit was “Everlasting Love,” Carlton continued to find success with “She’s a Bad Mama Jama.” The song garnered Carl a Grammy Award nomination and has been streamed on Spotify over 100 million times. Additionally, it has been sampled by many other artists and has appeared in several films, including “Miss Congeniality 2” and “Fat Albert,” as well as being featured in several episodes of television shows including “Friends.” Funk band Confunkshun expressed their sad news of Carl Carlton’s death on Facebook, saying, “With heavy hearts, we mourn the passing of the legendary Carl Carlton.” Confunkshun continued with, “His voice, talent, and contributions to soul and R&B music will always be part of our lives and the soundtrack to many of our memories. Our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and fans around the world. Rest in Power Carl. Your legacy will live on.”