Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band the Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member. During her time in the group, she recorded the hit singles "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again". In 1969, Staples released her self-titled debut solo album.
Staples continued to release solo albums throughout the following decades and collaborated with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Prince, Arcade Fire, Nona Hendryx, Ry Cooder, David Byrne, and former romantic partner Bob Dylan. Her eighth studio album You Are Not Alone (2010), earned critical acclaim, and became her first album as a soloist to reach number one on a Billboard chart, peaking atop the Top Gospel Albums chart. It also earned Staples her first Grammy Award win. Following this, she released the albums One True Vine (2013), Livin' on a High Note (2016), If All I Was Was Black (2017), and We Get By (2019); she is also featured on the single "Nina Cried Power" by Hozier.
As member of the Staple Singers, Staples is the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and has won five solo Grammy Awards, including one for Album of the Year as a featured artist on We Are by Jon Batiste. Named one of the "Greatest Singers of all Time" by Rolling Stone; Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999) and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2018), as a member of The Staple Singers. In 2016, she was made a Kennedy Center Honoree. The following year, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a soloist. In 2019, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored her with their inaugural Rock Hall Honors Award for her solo work.
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Biography
Mavis Staples was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 10, 1939, to mother Oceola Staples and father Roebuck "Pops" Staples. She grew up with four siblings: Pervis (a brother), and Cleotha, Yvonne, and Cynthia (sisters).
Mavis attended elementary school with Lou Rawls and Sam Cooke. She began her singing career with her family's musical group, the Staple Singers, in 1950. Their first paid performance was at a Chicago church. Initially singing locally at churches and appearing on a weekly radio show, the Staples scored a hit in 1956 with "Uncloudy Day" for the Vee-Jay label.
When Mavis graduated from Parker High School (later named Paul Robeson High School) in 1957, the Staple Singers took their music on the road. Led by family patriarch Roebuck "Pops" Staples on guitar, and including the voices of Mavis and her siblings Cleotha, Yvonne, and Pervis, the Staples were called "God's Greatest Hitmakers".
With Mavis' voice and Pops' songs, singing, and guitar playing, the Staples evolved from popular gospel singers (with recordings on United Records and Riverside Records, as well as Vee-Jay) to become the most influential spirituality-based group in America. By the mid-1960s the Staple Singers, inspired by Pops' close friendship with Martin Luther King Jr., became the spiritual and musical voices of the civil rights movement. They covered contemporary hits that conveyed positive messages, including Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and a version of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth".
During a December 20, 2008, appearance on National Public Radio's news show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, when Staples was asked about her past personal relationship with Dylan, she admitted that they "were good friends, yes indeed" and that he had asked her father for her hand in marriage.
The Staples sang "message" songs like "Long Walk to D.C." and "When Will We Be Paid?," bringing their moving and articulate music to a huge number of young people. The group signed to Stax Records in 1968, joining their gospel harmonies and deep faith with musical accompaniment from members of Booker T. and the MGs. The Staple Singers hit the top 40 eight times between 1971 and 1975, including two No. 1 singles, "I'll Take You There" (produced by Al Bell and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning) and "Let's Do It Again", and the No. 2 single "Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas?".
Film and television
During her career, Staples has appeared in many films and television shows, including The Last Waltz, Graffiti Bridge, Wattstax, New York Undercover, Songs of Praise, Soul Train, Soul to Soul, The Psychiatrist, and The Cosby Show. Her music has been included in soundtracks for various other films and television shows such as The Help, My Blueberry Nights, Dumplin', Charlie Wilson's War, and CSI: Miami.
Staples performed the title theme song for 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
The documentary Lightning in a Bottle, directed by Antoine Fuqua, about the Salute to the Blues concert at Radio City Music Hall in February 2003 features a performance by Staples and many other notable musicians including B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Bonnie Raitt.
Mavis!, the first feature documentary about Staples and the Staple Singers, directed by Jessica Edwards, had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2015. Mavis! screened in theaters and was broadcast on HBO in February 2016. In the same year, the documentary won a Peabody Award.
Staples has performed on various talk shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. On December 18, 2014, she was a featured performer on the final episode of The Colbert Report. On September 8, 2015, Staples was a featured performer on the premiere episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
On June 15, 2019, Staples appeared as the featured musical guest on the CBS This Morning "Saturday Sessions" segment, where she played songs from her We Get By.
Staples's performances with the Staple Singers and with Mahalia Jackson at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival are a highlight of the 2021 music documentary Summer of Soul.
Personal life
Mavis Staples married Chicago mortician Spencer Leak in 1964; they divorced eight years later, when Staples would not end her music career to stay home. She has no children.
In the 2015 documentary Mavis!, she revealed that Bob Dylan once proposed to her, and she turned him down.
As of 2026, Mavis Staples resides in Chicago, Illinois.
Awards and honors
In 1999, The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Lauryn Hill.
In 2005, Mavis and the Staple Singers were honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mavis Staples is a recipient of a 2006 National Heritage Fellowship, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Staples was named No. 56 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2008 list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
On February 13, 2011, Staples won her first Grammy award in the category for Best Americana Album for You Are Not Alone. In her acceptance speech, a shocked and crying Staples said, "This has been a long time coming".
On May 7, 2011, Staples was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
On May 6, 2012, Staples was awarded an honorary doctorate, and performed "I'll Take You There" with current and graduating students at Columbia College Chicago's 2012 Commencement Exercise in Chicago, Illinois, at the historic Chicago Theatre.
Staples was recognized as a 2016 Kennedy Center Honoree at the 39th annual gala event held in Washington, D.C.
In 2017, Staples was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame.
In 2018, Staples received a Lifetime Achievement at the National Arts Awards.
On January 30, 2020, she received a Lifetime Achievement from the SFJAZZ Gala.
Discography
Mavis Staples (1969)
Only for the Lonely (1970)
Oh What a Feeling (1979)
Time Waits for No One (1989)
The Voice (1993)
Spirituals & Gospel: Dedicated to Mahalia Jackson (with Lucky Peterson) (1996)
Have a Little Faith (2004)
We'll Never Turn Back (2007)
You Are Not Alone (2010)
One True Vine (2013)
Livin' on a High Note (2016)
If All I Was Was Black (2017)
We Get By (2019)
Sad and Beautiful World (2025)