Candi Staton, 85, earns Grammy nomination for 'Back to My Roots'

Candi Staton, the 85-year-old singer whose career has spanned gospel, soul, disco and Americana, earned a Grammy nomination for her album Back to My Roots and is one of the oldest nominees at the 68th annual Grammy Awards. The nod, in the best roots gospel album category, is Staton’s fifth Grammy nomination and her first in nearly 40 years.

Staton has recorded more than 30 albums over a seven-decade career. She spoke in a recent video call from her home in Madison, Ga., saying, "I would love a Grammy," and describing herself as "unbroken" by life’s challenges. She wrote seven of the 12 songs on Back to My Roots and has continued making music even though her touring days are over.

Her career began in church and as a child performer in the Jewell Gospel Trio; she later signed with Rick Hall’s FAME label and had R&B hits in the late 1960s before a disco breakthrough with 1976’s "Young Hearts Run Free." She left secular music in the early 1980s, returned to gospel with support from televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and later reached new audiences when her voice was sampled for the rave anthem "You Got the Love." Staton received a lifetime achievement honor at Britain’s Americana Awards in January 2025.

Staton has faced personal setbacks, including alcoholism and, more recently, surgery for breast cancer in 2023; her sixth marriage ended the following year.

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Culture, Candi Staton, Roots Gospel, Grammy Awards, Muscle Shoals, Fame Studios