(Photo By Flickr User Michael O’ Brien)

Yvonne Staples, whose voice and cleverness powered the success of the Staple Singers, has died at age 80.

According to The Associated Press & WGEM-TV, the Chicago, IL funeral home Leak and Sons said she died Tuesday at her home in The Windy City.

Staples’ family gospel group had a string of Top 40 hits and scored their first Number 1 with “I’ll Take You There” in the early 1970s.

She also performed with her sisters Mavis and Cleotha and their father Roebuck (Pops) on other hits, including “Respect Yourself,” “If You’re Ready, Come Go With Me,” and “Let’s Do It Again.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reports the family was active in civil rights and performed at the request of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2005.

A family friend says Yvonne Staples was “no nonsense” but “had a heart of gold.”

Singer/Songwriter, Member, and Manager of the Staple Singers, Yvonne Staples, dead at 80 years old.