Staples sis dies

CHICAGO — Yvonne Staples, whose voice and business acumen powered the success of the Staple Singers, her family’s hitmaking gospel group that topped the charts in the early 1970s with the song “I’ll Take You There,” has died. She was 80.

Staples died Tuesday at home in Chicago, according to Windy City funeral home Leak and Sons.

She performed with her sisters Mavis and Cleotha and their father, Pops, on hits such as “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There,” their first No. 1 hit. The family was also active in civil rights and performed at the request of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Yvonne Staples wasn’t as interested in singing as the rest of her family but stepped in when her brother, Pervis, left for military service, according to family friend Bill Carpenter, author of “Uncloudy Day: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia.” Yvonne Staples also helped her father with business tasks, Carpenter said.

“She was very no-nonsense, but at the same time had a heart of gold,” Carpenter said. “But when it came to business she was very strict. If this is what the contract said, this is what you better do.”

Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her family in 1999.