Artist · chart history
Staple Singers
Band Chicago United States Active 1948–1994
Staple Singers formed in 1948 in Chicago, United States and was active until 1994. Staple Singers has 15 chart appearances on 11 radio countdowns from 6 stations on RockLists, spanning 2001–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “I'll Take You There”, which appears on 7 lists with a best position of #100. The station that charted Staple Singers most often is The Colorado Sound (Fort Collins–Denver, CO), with 5 appearances.
The Staple Singers were a Chicago family affair from the start. Roebuck "Pops" Staples put the group together in 1948 with his children Cleotha, Pervis and Mavis, and when Pervis was drafted into the Army, his sister Yvonne stepped in, as she would again in 1970. They kept the family name on the record sleeves minus its final letter, and they kept the church in everything they sang.
What made them special was the family blend, voices that grew up singing together and moved like one. Gospel, soul and rhythm and blues all run through their music without the uplift ever leaving, and their best-known hits of the '70s turned sermons into grooves. "Respect Yourself" snaps with funk, "I'll Take You There" floats on one of the most relaxed rhythms ever pressed to wax, and "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)", from Be What You Are in 1973, sounds like an open invitation.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame brought them in in 1999, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award followed in 2005 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame added them in 2018. Rock radio's countdowns still find room for all three songs.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Staple Singers on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I'll Take You There | 7 | #100 | – | – | |
| 2 | Respect Yourself | 4 | #77 | – | – | |
| 3 | Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom) | 1 | #532 | – | – | |
| 4 | If you're ready (Come Go With Me) | 2 | #615 | – | – | |
| 5 | Slippery People | 1 | #813 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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