Carl Carlton, a renowned R&B singer, has passed away. He was 72.
According to Soultracks, Carlton’s passing comes after he suffered a serious stroke around six years ago. His friends and family members said, “he courageously battled to both live and thrive.”
Starting his career in the mid-1960s as “Little Carl” Carlton, the Detroit native quickly made a name for himself. He recorded some minor local hits, including “So What” and “Don’t You Need a Boy Like Me” in 1965.
Carlton then signed with BackBeat Records in Houston, Texas. He released his first single on that label, “Competition Ain’t Nothing,” in 1968.
Carlton had a hit on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart with “I Can Feel It”. It spent three weeks in the chart, peaking at no. 47.
His first major success was with “Everlasting Love” in 1974. It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
After years of battling record labels for royalties, Carlton returned in a big way. “She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked)” released on 20th Century Records, became his signature song. Penned by Leon Haywood, the song became a major hit in 1981, peaking at number 2 on the Soul chart. It went on to earn Carlton a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance.
Throughout the 1980s, Carlton released several more albums. Carlton appeared on the “Rhythm, Love, and Soul” edition of the PBS series American Soundtrack. The live album, released in 2004, included his performance of “Everlasting Love.”He was accompanied by Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, the Three Degrees, Billy Paul, and The Manhattans.
He released his first gospel single, “God Is Good,” in 2010. In 2011, Carlton was nominated for a Detroit Music Award in the “Outstanding Gospel/Christian Vocalist” category at The Fillmore Detroit theater.