Fox News reports that Jeff Carson, the country music singer turned police officer, has died. He was 58.
Carson’s publicist, Jeremy Westby of 2911 Media, announced Caron’s passing in a statement released over the weekend.
Westby revealed in the statement that Carson died at a hospital in Franklin, Tennessee. The cause of his death was a heart attack.
Remembering Carson
In his statement, Westby recalled how Carson, whose birth name was Jeffrey Lee Herndon, began his life of music by singing in church in his home state of Oklahoma.
From that early beginning, Carson would go on to form his first band in Arkansas. From there, he moved to Branson, Missouri, where he wrote songs and performed locally, and then to Nashville, Tennessee, where he recorded demos for country music’s best.
Carson earned his first recording contract in 1995 with Curb Records. He released the single, “Yeah Buddy.”
Carson proceeded to produce several other singles, including “Not On Your Love” and “The Car,” which earned him his first Academy of Country Music award for the best video of the year. Carson, over the course of his music career, managed to put 14 singles on the Billboard chart.
Carson ended up retiring from music and becoming a police officer in Franklin, Tennessee. Recently, though, while remaining a police officer, he did venture back into music, releasing “God Save the World.” He also, at the time of his death, had been working on an album of duets that was set to be released later this year.
Tributes
After the news of Carson’s passing, tributes began pouring in on social media.
Among them was one from the Franklin Police Department, where Carson worked. The department wrote:
It’s hard to believe he’s gone. One thing is for certain — Franklin Police Officer #JeffCarson changed everyone he met, all of us, for the better! Thank you, Jeff, for your life of service & song. May his message live on: God Save The World.
There have also been tributes from a number of Carson’s friends in the music industry, including singer Bryan White, who wrote:
He was a tremendous singer and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met … I’ll see you on the good side buddy.
Carson is survived by his wife and son as well as by his mother, brother, and sister.