Carl Carlton Dies: 'She’s a Bad Mama Jama’ Singer Was 73

Carl Carlton, a Grammy-nominated singer who topped the charts with the singles “She’s a Bad Mama Jama” and “Everlasting Love,” has died.

The soul singer’s son Carlton Hudgens II announced his death in a Facebook post on Sunday, Dec. 14.

“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 read.

According to his son and the Detroit Free Press, Carlton was born on May 21, 1952, and died at age 73.

No cause of death was given for the Detroit native, who was born Carlton Hudgens. According to published reports, he suffered a stroke in 2019 and had been in declining health.

Carlton began his music career in Detroit in the late 1960s. After signing with Houston-based Back Beat Records, he moved to Texas where his career took off. He released a cover version of the single “Everlasting Love” in 1974, and scored a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit.

In 1981, Carlton released “She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked),” written by singer-songwriter Leon Haywood. The single topped the charts and earned Carlton a Grammy nomination in the category of Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, per Grammy.com.

According to the website Who Sampled, the single has since been sampled numerous times, including by Foxy Brown, Das EFX, and Flo Milli.

In a 1982 interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand, Carlton talked about finding success after years of paying dues.

“You learn to work with people that you can trust… people you can relate to. People that want to see you go somewhere in life, and they’re out trying to help you,” he said.

Carlton added that he was proud to have worked with Smokey Robinson, Rick James, Teena Marie, Gap Band, Stevie Wonder, The Commodores, Chaka Khan and other iconic artists along the way.