Mavis Staples owes her amazing career to her unique and timeless voice. The American soul legend is coming to the AB on Tuesday, 7 June. The perfect opportunity to take a look at some of the highlights of her career.
The first steps
Mavis Staples grew up in a musical family. Together with her father, sister and brother, she formed the collective The Staple Singers. The group performed mainly in local churches and could be heard weekly in a radio programme. In 1956, the band scored a huge hit with the song 'Uncloudy Day'.
Solo career
She later began her solo career. In 1969, she released the album 'Mavis Staples'. Around this period, other albums followed such as 'Only For the Lonely', 'A Piece of the Action' and 'Hard Times Come Again No More'.
Good relationship with Prince
Prince admired Mavis Staples and offered her a contract with Paisley Park Records in the 1980s. Staples said the following about their collaboration: "Oh, Lord, working with Prince was beautiful. We’d stay up all night singing and I would leave Paisley Park in the morning. One day, I asked him when he sleeps. He said, ‘Mavis, sleeping is a waste of time.’ I said, ‘OK, well I’m going to waste some time — I’ll see you later!'"
Grammy nomination with Bob Dylan
In 2003, Staples was nominated for a Grammy Award for her duet with Bob Dylan, called 'Gotta Change My Way of Thinking'. This was followed by 3 more nominations for other projects by Mavis Staples.
Today
Mavis Staples is 82 years old now, but she hasn't put her microphone away just yet. Three years ago, the beautiful collaboration with Norah Jones was released, called 'I'll Be Gone'. The singer has been around for many generations and her voice has given people goose bumps for over 60 years. We're very proud to receive the legend in AB. If you want to experience a piece of cultural and musical history, don't miss this performance on 7 June.
