Carl Carlton, the Grammy-nominated funk and R&B singer best known for his 1981 hit She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked), has died at the age of 72.
On Monday, the Everlasting Love hitmaker’s son, Carlton Hudgens II, confirmed that his father died Sunday in a social media post.
Hudgens wrote, “RIP Dad, Legend Carl Carlton singer of She’s a Bad Mama Jama. Long hard fight in life and you will be missed.” The post did not cite a cause of death.
Carlton, who was born in Detroit in 1953, began his career as Little Carl Carlton before moving to Houston and signing with Back Beat Records.
He scored an early hit with I Can Feel It in 1971 and broke through nationally in 1974 with his cover of Everlasting Love, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
His biggest hit came in 1981 with She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked), a funky celebration of femininity that peaked at No. 22 on the Hot 100 and propelled his self-titled album to gold status.
He remained active through the ’80s with appearances on American Bandstand and Soul Train, though his output slowed in the ’90s.
Carlton later performed on Barry Glazer’s 2003 TV special American Soundtrack: Rhythm, Love, and Soul and released his final album, the gospel LP God Is Good, in 2010.
