Jean Carn

Biography

Born Sarah Jean Perkins in Columbus, Georgia, Carn joined her church choir at age four. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, where she learned fluent Russian, she accepted a scholarship to Morris Brown College. There she continued studying Russian and performed musical theater and opera. She planned to attend Juilliard School of Music but instead met and married jazz pianist Doug Carn, becoming a featured vocalist in his jazz fusion band.

The couple lived in Los Angeles, and she appeared on three of his early albums: Infant Eyes, Spirit of the New Land, and Revelation. They later divorced. In 1976, Carn signed to Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records. Her debut album Jean Carn came out that year, with the single "Free Love" reaching number 23 on the R&B chart.

Her second album Happy to Be With You was released in June 1978 and included the hit "Don't Let It Go to Your Head." Her third Philadelphia International album When I Find You Love appeared in 1979; its single "My Love Don't Come Easy" peaked at number 43 on the R&B chart. The album also featured "Was That All It Was?", a Jerry Butler-penned track that became a disco hit in UK clubs despite not charting on the R&B charts. Carn moved to the TSOP imprint for her 1981 album Sweet and Wonderful.

She signed to Motown Records in 1982, releasing her only album for the label, Trust Me. Its single "If You Don't Know Me By Now," a cover of the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes hit with backing vocals by The Temptations, reached number 49 on the R&B chart. By 1986 she signed to Omni Records, where Closer Than Close, produced by Grover Washington Jr., went to number one on the R&B charts. Her 1988 album You're a Part of Me was her only release on Atlantic Records.

In 2014, Carn received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National R&B Music Society in Philadelphia. She performed on the Soul Train Cruise in 2020. On October 16, 2022, her life was featured on the TV One documentary series Unsung.