He charted 14 singles on the Billboard country charts, including the Number One hit "Not on Your Love", the Top Ten hits "The Car" and "Holdin' Onto Somethin'", and the Top 20 "Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)".
Carson died from a heart attack at a hospital in Franklin, Tennessee, on March 26, 2022, at the age of 58.
In February 2009, he retired from the music business and joined the Franklin, Tennessee, police force as a full-time police officer.