Candi Staton

Known as the First Lady of Southern Soul, Candi Staton rose to prominence performing gospel versions of pop hits in the early 1970s before her disco soul anthem 'Young Hearts Run Free' became a classic of the time. Born in Hanceville, Alabama, Staton and her sister Maggie's group Jewell Gospel Trio toured with Mahalia Jackson, The Soul Stirrers and C.L. Franklin in their teens, before Staton kick-started her solo career in 1968 by working with legendary R&B producer Rick Hall. She had national success with covers of 'Stand By Your Man' and 'In the Ghetto' and her powerful vocal cry made her one of the stars of Southern Soul and led to 16 hit singles on the R&B charts.

As trends changed Atlantic Records paired her with songwriter Dave Crawford in search of a new direction. Staton re-emerged as a righteous disco diva and 'Young Hearts Run Free' shot to number two in the UK charts and became her defining, signature anthem. She went on to record 28 albums, score more UK hits with 'Nights On Broadway' and 'Suspicious Minds' and was nominated for Grammy Awards four times without success, before returning to the pop world in 1991 when her track 'You Got the Love' was remixed by dance producers The Source into a massive club hit that reached number three in the UK charts and was later covered by Florence and the Machine and Joss Stone.

She went on to release many more successful records including 'It's Time' (1995), 'Outside In' (1999), 'Here's a Blessing' (2000), 'His Hands' (2006), 'Life Happens' (2014) and 'Unstoppable' which became her 30th album in 2018.