Cleotha Staples | Gospel family singer, 78

Cleotha Staples, 78, the eldest sibling in the influential gospel group the Staple Singers, died Thursday at her Chicago home after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for a decade, said family friend and music publicist Bill Carpenter.

The family's music career had its roots with Roebuck "Pops" Staples, a manual laborer who strummed a $10 guitar while teaching his children gospel songs to keep them entertained. They sang in church one Sunday morning in 1948, and the response convinced Pops that music was in the family's future.

Two decades later, the group became unlikely hit makers for the Stax label.

Miss Staples, known as "Cleedi," was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her family in 1999 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 2005.

She was born April 11, 1934, in Drew, Miss., to Pops and his wife, Oceola. Two years later, the family moved to Chicago, where Pops worked a variety of jobs and Oceola worked at a hotel. Chicago was where her siblings were born - Pervis, Yvonne, Mavis, and Cynthia.

The Staple Singers became one of the biggest gospel groups of the era. Pops and Mavis primarily sang the lead, but a 1969 recording of duets featured Cleotha's voice on "It's Too Late," a bluesy ballad.

The family also became active in the civil rights movement after hearing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver a sermon in 1962. They went on to perform at events at King's request.

The Staple Singers had a string of Top 40 hits in the 1960s. "I'll Take You There" spent a week at No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1972. - AP