Singer Candi Staton says she has breast cancer

Singer Candi Staton says she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 78-year-old said she received the news over the summer on the first day of rehearsals for her tour. She writes in a statement, “I decided to keep it to myself and do some soul searching. I went through all of the emotions: denial, poor me and anger.”

But she says that being on the road helped her.

Staton will begin 12 weeks of chemotherapy on Tuesday. She says she found a lump through self-check and she’s encouraging women, “including elderly women — to get a regular mammogram.”