Mavis Staples

Grim days call for fierce love, and multigenerational talent Mavis Staples is laying it down. On her 15th solo album, Sad and Beautiful World, Staples stands side by side with her listeners in the face of dangers she knows all too well. The record spans seven decades of the American songbook — a range nearly as vast as Staples’ career — and includes reinventions of timeless songs as well as original music.

Embracing vulnerability, Staples draws the listener into a circle filled with her unforgettable presence. The songs of Sad and Beautiful World explore themes of hope in the face of disappointment, dreams of a future despite no guarantees, and love during tough times. These songs remind her listeners that people cannot go it alone, and they don’t have to.

“I just have to deliver the compassion I feel,” Staples said. “I want to share the song the way I feel it.”

One of the most enduring figures in American music, Staples has been performing since the age of eight — starting out in the family band Staple Singers with her father, sisters, and brother. Throughout her career, she has carried her family’s gifts and knowledge with her as a living heritage.

Inducted into several halls of fame, a Kennedy Center Honoree, and a winner of multiple Grammys (including a Lifetime Achievement award), Staples is a living embodiment of musical history. She’s collaborated with nearly every major figure of her era(s), from Bob Dylan to Prince, Aretha Franklin, and Willie Nelson — not to mention countless stars from subsequent generations. Staples is still making studio albums and still hitting the road, returning to venues like the Newport Folk festival, where she’s been a fixture since 1964. 

Few people wield the combination of lived experience and musical artistry that Staples possesses, including the lived experience of being a Black woman playing music in the South during the Jim Crow era. The creators of Freedom Highway, Staples and her family made the literal soundtrack for the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. They also opened for Martin Luther King Jr. at his rallies. Staples has spent a lifetime standing up for those people most often beaten down by those in power. 

“You have to stay hopeful and have faith that things are going to get better,” Staples said. 

Although she considered retiring in 2023, Staples found she had more to say. She isn’t waiting around to be revered for the wisdom she brings. She’s still leading the charge. Steadfast in the face of adversity, Staples is still making music — and history — just when she’s needed the most.