Gerald “Candy” Foster has been a prominent singer of rhythm and blues and classic blues in the Midwest for nearly 60 years. Born in Danville in 1938, as a child, his earliest musical influence was his mother, a local jazz singer. In the late 1950s, he moved to Champaign-Urbana. There, he credits the saxophonist Tony Zamora with giving him his first big break when he asked him to sing the blues for a nightly gig at Rainbow, a club on North First Street. Foster describes Count Demon and Jack McDuff as some of his strong musical influences. During the Vietnam War era, he performed with his band, Soul Brothers, throughout the Midwest on what was known as the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a network of entertainment venues that featured African American performers. In the late 1990s, he operated Candy’s Lounge in Champaign. Since 1996, Shades of Blue, his largest band, has continued to perform throughout the region.
In the documentary, “Candy Foster: A Musical Witness (2025),” Foster describes himself, “I happen to be an entertainer that can sing a bit.” Over the years, he has performed with and opened for such blues greats as Lonnie Brooks, Etta James, Big Daddy Kinsey, KoKo Taylor, Junior Wells, Gatemouth Brown, Little Milton, Eddie Shaw, Son Seals, Bobby Blue Bland, and Bobby Rush, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, The Four Tops, The Marvelettes, Del Shannon, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
In 2014 Foster received the Lifetime Achievement Award from 40 North, the Champaign County Arts Council “for his decades of limitless talent and energy, his life-long dedication to his practice, his profound impact on countless musicians, and his engagement with the community as a whole.”
Candy Foster: A Musical Witness – An IPM Presentation—https://will.illinois.edu/illinoissoul/about/watch-now-candy-foster-a-musical-witness-an-ipm-presentation
Gerald (Candy) Foster—https://localwiki.org/cu/Gerald_%28Candy%29_Foster
Candy Foster – Entertainer Prairie Fire 901 (February 16, 2024)