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“My life has been unstoppable,” says legendary soul singer Candi Staton. “It’s been a wonderful life, but it hasn’t been a normal life.”
That’s putting it mildly. Over the course of her 50-year career, Staton has seen more than her fair share of highs and lows. She’s scored hits in every decade of that span, in styles ranging from R&B (“I’m Just a Prisoner” and her iconic cover of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man”) to disco (the oft-covered “Young Hearts Run Free” and her song-stealing version of the Bee Gees’ “Nights on Broadway”) to electronic dance music (“Hallelujah Anyway,” “You Got the Love”). Along the way, she’s had more comebacks than a prize fighter, garnered four Grammy nominations, and won over generations of fans with her powerhouse voice and timeless songs.
Candi Staton did her mentors proud. She came out of the gate in the early ‘70s with a string of hit R&B records, produced by her great friend, the late Rick Hall of the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals: “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than a Young Man’s Fool),” “I’m Just a Prisoner (of Your Good Lovin’),” “Sweet Feeling,” “Stand by Your Man” and a cover of “In the Ghetto” that remains nearly as celebrated as Elvis Presley’s original. In the late ‘70s, she reinvented herself as a disco diva, returning to the charts with “Young Hearts Run Free.” She then returned to her gospel roots, a move that unexpectedly led to her career resurgence in the ‘90s and 2000s, as two songs originally written as Christian anthems, “You Got the Love” and “Hallelujah Anyway,” won new audiences with dance remixes.
In 2014, Staton’s career came full circle with the release of “Life Happens,” which featured Rick Hall’s final production before his retirement and eventual passing earlier this year: “I Ain’t Easy to Love,” which paired Staton’s soulful croon with two of the many artists she’s influenced, Jason Isbell and The Civil Wars’ John Paul White. “Maybe it was God’s will that I was his last project,” Staton ponders. “Rick loved me more than just as an artist. We had a great relationship. I still miss him.”
After a lifetime of great music, Staton has accumulated many well-deserved accolades, including induction into the Christian Music Hall of the Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. But as proud as she is of those acknowledgements, she’s even more proud of her work with victims of domestic violence through her non-profit organization, A Veil of Silence — and deeply grateful that she’s able to continue dazzling audiences with her age-defyingly energetic live shows, mixing music from every era of her storied career.
“I’m in awe every day,” she says of her continued success. “I am so blessed and thankful. There are so many of my peers that are not here to see something like this happen to them. And I’m still here.” You might even say she’s unstoppable.
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