Christian Music Online

Candi Staton performance Angels of Grace Battered Women’s Shelter

June 11, 2005 – 9:35 am

Well-known gospel singer to perform benefit concert for Angels of Grace shelter

Renowned gospel singer Candi Staton will give a benefit performance for Angels of Grace Battered Women’s Shelter, at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Lily Peter Auditorium of Phillips Community College’ s Fine Arts Center.

Before disco caught on, Staton became known for the No. 1 dance smash “Young Hearts Run Free.” She began her career in the Stellar Jewel gospel trio in the 1950s.

“Young Hearts Run Free” put Staton in the music encyclopedias. Abusive marriages molded her into a defender of battered women. Her son’s legal woes made her a proponent of a fairer judicial system. Her own battle with alcoholism has made her a crusader against substance abuse. Those things and Candi’s fervent faith as a born again Christian and her notorious past fuse to create a very unique type of gospel.

After her big run as a secular star in the 1970s, she returned to her gospel roots in 1982. Since then, she has developed a reputation as a sensitive psalmist and the person who first infused gospel with funk through her “gosco” songs such as “Dance” and “Sing a Song,” which merged disco rhythms with gospel lyrics. However, Staton is equally known for her sweet ballads such as “Sin Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Mama” as she is for her more high-energy material. Whatever she does is sweet and that’s why she’s called the “Sweetheart of Gospel.”

The woman whose independent musical stance influenced such diverse female singers as Mary J. Blige and Vonda Shepard, was born Canzetta Staton in Alabama.

Hers was a poor, church-going farm family. She picked cotton, shucked corn and sang in the church choir. She joined the Jewel Gospel Trio in 1953. They appeared on bills with the Staple Singers, the Soul Stirrers and Aretha Franklin. Her big break soon followed.

After a series of personal traumas, Staton became a born again Christian in 1982. Her initial gospel album “Make Me An Instrument” peaked at No. 7 on Billboard’s gospel charts and garnered her third Grammy award nomination. In the intervening years, she recorded 11 other gospel albums and has hosted the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) weekly series, “Say Yes” the past 16 years.

Angels of Grace Battered Women’s Shelter is a division of The Family Center, Inc., which is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization that provides domestic violence services. All proceeds will go to domestic violence services.

Angels of Grace thanks their sponsors Amerimax, Barry Daniels, Hickory Hill Pharmacy, Foxglove Bed and Breakfast, KJIW Radio Station, KCLT Radio Station and Chris Allen.

Advance ticket donations are $10 or a $15 donation at the door

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