Canzetta Maria “Candi” Staton is an American singer–songwriter. Born in Hanceville, Alabama, Staton and her sister Maggie were sent to Nashville around the age 11 or 12 for school. While attending Jewell Christian Academy, Staton’s vocal abilities were soon noticed by her peers and the school’s pastor. Amazed by her voice, the pastor paired Staton and her sister with a third girl, Naomi Harrison, and they formed the Jewell Gospel Trio.
In 1968, Staton was introduced to Rixk Hall by Clarence Carter and launched her solo career as a Southern soul stylist, garnering 16 R&B hits for Rick Hall’s Fame Studios and gaining the title of “First Lady of Southern Soul” for her Grammy-nominated R&B renditions of the songs “Stand By Yor Man” and “In The Ghetto”. Staton appeared on Soul Train in September 1972.
In 1976, Staton began collaborating with producer David Crawford on disco songs such as “Young Hearts Run Free”, which reached No. 1 on the US R&B charts, No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and went Top 20 on the Pop Hot 100 during the summer of 1976. It was remixed and re-released in 1986, reaching the UK Top 50. Follow up song “Destiny” hit the Top 50 in the UK and her version of “Nights on Broadway” hit the UK Top 10 in 1977.
In 1978, Staton scored another Top 50 hit in the UK with “Honest I Do Love You”. In 1979 from her album Chance, Staton released the single “When You Wake Up Tomorrow” (co-written by Patrick Adams and Wayne K. Garfield) and the title song “Chance”, a top 20 R&B charted record. Other dance club chart hits included “When You Wake Up Tomorrow” and “Victim”. In 1982, Staton again hit the UK chart with a version of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious MInds”.
In 1982, Staton returned to gospel music. Staton and her then-husband, John Sussewell, founded Beracah Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. Staton has since recorded twelve gospel albums, two of which received Grammy Award nominations. In 1991, Staton returned to the UK charts by lending her vocals to the Source’s British hit, “You Got The Love”. Staton signed with Intersound Records in 1995. In 2000, she released her eleventh album, Here’s a Blessing. In 2004, the British record label Honest Jon’s released a compilation album of her soul work from the late 1960s and early 1970s, the self-titled Candi Staton.
