Born on March 13, 1940, in Hanceville, Alabama, Candi Staton performed with the Jewell Gospel Trio during her teenage years. Throughout the 1950s the group traveled the traditional gospel circuit alongside the Soul Stirrers, C.L. Franklin, and Mahalia Jackson, cutting numerous tracks for Nashboro, Apollo, and Savoy Records from 1953 through 1963. Staton embarked on a solo career in 1968, establishing herself as a Southern soul stylist and collecting sixteen R&B chart entries at Rick Hall’s famed Fame Studios; her Grammy-nominated soul interpretations of the country numbers “Stand by Your Man” and “In the Ghetto” earned her the designation First Lady of Southern Soul. By 1975, sensing a shift away from the Southern soul sound, she partnered with producer Dave Crawford, who reshaped her into a disco diva through the dance tracks “Young Hearts Run Free” and “Victim.” Disappointed by Warner Brothers’ waning support and a resulting lull in her career, Staton returned to gospel in 1982. Alongside her husband, drummer John Sussewell of Ashford & Simpson, she established Beracah Ministries in Atlanta, aided by Jim and Tammy Bakker’s PTL Ministries. Since then she has issued eight well-received gospel albums, two of them Grammy-nominated. In 1992 she reentered the pop mainstream via the British Top Ten club hit “You Got the Love,” a dance single that moved two million copies. After signing with Intersound Records in 1995, Staton resumed performing selections from her earlier R&B catalog, added new message-driven pop material, and acquired the additional moniker Sweetheart of Soul. She issued her eleventh album, Here’s a Blessing, in 2000. The strong reception accorded the 2004 Fame-era anthology Candi Staton prompted her return to secular music with the 2006 release His Hands.
