Singer Candi Staton, 83, says if it’s too good to be true, walk away

American singer Candi, 83, is known for a string of hits including Young Hearts Run Free. She escaped poverty as a teen by joining a gospel trio, before launching her solo career. The mother-of-five lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is married to her sixth husband, former secret serviceman Henry Hooper.

IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, WALK AWAY  

When I was young, I knew nothing about the music business. As a teenager I toured the U.S. with the Jewell Gospel Trio.

We were on stage with Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke and drawing huge audiences, but when I got to 18 I discovered that the other singers were getting salaries and we were getting nothing.

I became a solo singer, but I was still naïve. They told me to look pretty and sing and they would ‘take care of the business’. I was a country girl from Alabama and I’d been in the church all my life, so I was taken advantage of.

I still feel the results of that to this day. Without reading the small print, I signed contracts which said the record company would have the song for ever.

That happened with Young Hearts Run Free. I couldn’t get that song back because they said I owed them money for studio time.

They give you everything in the first three pages of a contract and it sounds wonderful, then they take it back in the next three. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I’ve not lost my enthusiasm for music, though. I’m performing at this year’s Love Supreme Jazz Festival and as long I’ve got the energy I’ll be singing and writing songs in my 90s.

And I still trust people, but these days I’m old enough to know when I’m being used.

So many of my relationships didn’t work out because I was too quick to commit. I saw the picture, but I didn’t know what was behind the picture.

He looked good, he talked good and he was everything I thought I wanted, but once I got to know him, I began to see the real person.

After all these failed marriages I met a man at a church service.

The mother-of-five lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is married to her sixth husband, former secret serviceman Henry Hooper

He’d been a secret serviceman with four Presidents and was very kind and nice to me. We got married, but we live separately.

We both need our own space and we spend a lot of time with our own families, but it’s a wonderful relationship. I know he’s genuine. If the President can trust him, surely I can!

• CANDI performs at this year’s Love Supreme Jazz Festival at Glynde Place, East Sussex from June 30–July 2 (lovesupremefestival.com)