Carl Carlton, the Detroit, Michigan-born singer whose distinctive voice powered funk and soul hits across multiple decades, has died at reportedly 73 years old. His son, Carlton Hudgens II, announced the death on Facebook on December 14, 2025.
“RIP Dad, Legend Carl Carlton singer of She’s a Bad Mama Jama. Long hard fight in life and you will be missed,” Carlton Hudgens II wrote in his announcement.
Born Carlton Hudgens on what sources report as May 21, 1952, the artist began his recording career in the 1960s as a preteen under the stage name Little Carl Carlton. He secured an early deal with Back Beat Records, a Texas label that released several singles including “Competition Ain’t Nothin'” in 1968 and “I Can Feel It” in 1971.
While those early releases failed to achieve mainstream success in the United States, they became beloved classics within England’s northern soul music club scene. Carlton’s bright, elastic vocal delivery often prompted comparisons to Stevie Wonder, establishing his reputation among discerning music fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
Carlton’s U.S. mainstream breakthrough arrived with his 1974 cover of “Everlasting Love,” a strings-soaked track that climbed to what sources report as No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The song, originally performed by Robert Knight, became Carlton’s highest-charting pop hit and introduced his sound to a wider audience beyond the R&B circuit.
By the turn of the 1980s, Carlton had secured a deal with 20th Century Fox Records following a legal battle to withdraw from his previous recording contract. “This business is very tricky, especially if you’re young,” he told the Detroit Free Press in 1981. “When you’re young, you’re excited, and you’ll sign anything. That’s what happened to me.”
His perseverance paid off spectacularly in 1981 with the release of “She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked),” written and produced by Leon Haywood. The funk anthem earned Carlton a Grammy nomination and became one of the most significant R&B figures in Detroit’s post-Motown era. The song has since accumulated over 100 million streams on Spotify.
The enduring appeal of “She’s a Bad Mama Jama” extended far beyond its initial chart success. The track has been sampled by numerous artists including Foxy Brown and others, cementing its place in hip-hop history. The song also appeared in films such as Miss Congeniality 2 and Fat Albert, introducing Carlton’s music to new generations of listeners.
Carlton’s popularity in the British northern soul scene remained strong throughout his career. In 2017, he performed at the inaugural Detroit A Go Go, an annual pilgrimage by British fans staged at various venues across the Motor City, celebrating the deep connection between Detroit’s soul music and England’s devoted dance floor community.
His recording career slowed in the 1990s, though he continued performing live at venues across metro Detroit and at festivals throughout the United States. Carlton released his final album, “God Is Good,” in 2010, showcasing his enduring vocal abilities and musical versatility.
Carlton suffered a stroke in 2019, which significantly impacted his ability to perform and maintain his previously active touring schedule. The health setback marked a difficult period for the veteran performer, who had spent more than five decades entertaining audiences.
Throughout his career, Carlton maintained strong connections to both Detroit and Houston, Texas, the home base of Back Beat Records. His relocation to Houston during his early career proved pivotal in shaping his musical direction and establishing the professional relationships that would define his sound.
Beyond his recorded work, Carlton’s influence extended to the music industry’s business practices and artist development. His willingness to discuss the challenges he faced with early recording contracts provided valuable lessons for younger artists navigating the complex music industry landscape.
The funk and soul communities have mourned Carlton’s passing with numerous tributes highlighting his contributions to American music. His distinctive vocal style, combined with his ability to deliver both romantic ballads and uptempo funk tracks with equal conviction, established him as a versatile and respected performer across multiple genres.
Carlton’s legacy includes not only his chart success but also his role in maintaining Detroit’s reputation as a soul music powerhouse even after Motown Records relocated to Los Angeles. His sustained career through the 1970s and 1980s helped bridge the gap between Detroit’s Motown era and subsequent generations of R&B artists from the city.
The sampling of “She’s a Bad Mama Jama” by contemporary hip-hop and R&B artists demonstrates the song’s lasting impact on popular music. The track’s funky bassline and memorable lyrics continue to resonate with producers and artists seeking to capture the essence of early 1980s funk while creating new musical interpretations.
No cause of death has been publicly announced by the family. Carlton Hudgens II’s Facebook announcement emphasized the difficulty his father faced in recent years, describing it as a “long hard fight in life.”
Carlton leaves behind a catalog that spans soul, funk, and disco, with recordings that captured the evolving sound of Black popular music from the late 1960s through the early 2010s. His work with various record labels, including Back Beat Records and 20th Century Fox Records, documented important transitions in the music industry’s approach to R&B and funk artists during a transformative period in American popular culture.
