Jimmy Carter, a Montgomery native who became one of the most recognizable entertainment reporters in country music during a broadcasting career spanning more than five decades, has died. He was 73.
His family confirmed Carter passed away in his sleep Tuesday, October 13, two days before what would have been his 74th birthday. No cause of death has been revealed.
News of his death drew an outpouring from the industry he covered for half a century.
Meteorologist James Spann posted on Facebook that he was “very saddened to hear of the death of my longtime friend Jimmy Carter.” Longtime Birmingham TV anchor Pam Huff said, “I don’t know how to say goodbye to a friend who has been with me since the 1970s.” Huff went on to say that Carter “loved what he did in broadcasting in Birmingham, Nashville and across the country. He was good, really good, at his craft.”
Born October 15, 1952, at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Montgomery, Carter got an early start in broadcasting, beginning on-the-job training at his favorite rock radio station at age 15, according to his biography.
He attended Auburn University, where he helped name, build and sign on the campus station WEGL-FM in April 1971.
Early assignments kept him in his home state, working as a street reporter covering civil rights, hurricanes and politics across Alabama and earning a UPI award as a television news producer at WVTM, Birmingham’s NBC station, before his career carried him north to Tennessee.
It was in Nashville that Carter made his name. He spent 21 years as WSMV Channel 4’s entertainment reporter and executive producer, covering award shows, movie premieres and Music Row events, and interviewing stars from Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks to Hollywood figures including Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Costner.
His work earned a regional Emmy Award for public service television, multiple Emmy nominations, a DuPont-Columbia Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award. As a writer and producer for Barbara Mandrell productions, he helped create two of the highest-rated specials in The Nashville Networks’ history.
Carter remained a familiar voice on radio and TV in recent years, providing a daily live call-in feature for stations across the country, including The Steve & DC Morning Show on WFFN 95.3 The Bear in Tuscaloosa. He also shared decades of archival celebrity interviews through his YouTube channel, AskJimmyCarter, and taught classes in Belmont University’s Mike Curb School of Music Business.
Funeral details will be announced by his family in the coming days.
Scott Chambers is the News Director and Senior Anchor for the YHN Radio Network. @ScottChambers
