Candi Staton
b. Hanceville, Alabama, USA. A former member of the Jewel Gospel Trio, Staton left the group, and her first husband, for a secular career. She was then discovered performing at a club by Clarence Carter, who took the singer to the Fame label. Carter wrote her debut hit, the uncompromising I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool), and helped guide the singer's early releases. Candi later began pursuing a country-influenced path, especially in the wake of her successful version of Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man. Staton and Carter were, by now, married, although this relationship subsequently ended in divorce. Candi left Fame for Warner Brothers in 1974 but it was two years before Young Hearts Run Free, an excellent pop-styled hit, consolidated this new phase. Nights On Broadway, written by Bee Gees Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, then became a UK Top 10 single, although it unaccountably flopped in America. The singer has continued to enjoy intermittent UK success but US hits have been restricted to the R&B chart. You Lost The Love a collaboration with the Force was a popular dancefloor track and a UK Top 40 hit in 1991. More recently Candi Staton has been recording in the gospel field.