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‘He said if I divorced him, he’d kill us all’: Candi Staton on abuse, alcohol and the story of Young Hearts Run Free
A star at 11, and still going strong 73 years later, the Queen of Southern Soul looks back on a life of hits, hurt and endless reinvention
In recent years, the likes of Lil Nas X and Beyoncé have ushered in the era of mainstream black representation in country, but Staton – who was born into a still-segregated Alabama in 1940 – was there long before, covering Dolly Parton’s Jolene and Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man. Her mother had put the brakes on a mooted move to Los Angeles with Sam Cooke and another singer, Lou Rawls, a decision Staton now understands (“She said: ‘You’re not leaving at 18 with strange men,’”) but one that left her hurt and adrift at the time. A more stable marriage – albeit adulterous, on his side – to fellow musician Clarence Carter followed, along with another child, and Staton’s ascent began again alongside the legendary producer Rick Hall at Fame studios in Muscle Shoals.
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