35 Facts About Mavis Staples

1.

Mavis Staples was born on July 10,1939 and is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist.

2.

Mavis Staples rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member.

3.

Mavis Staples is the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and has won three Grammy Awards, including one for Album of the Year as a featured artist on We Are by Jon Batiste.

4.

Mavis Staples was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 10,1939.

5.

Mavis Staples began her career with her family group in 1950.

6.

When Mavis Staples graduated from what is Paul Robeson High School in 1957, The Staple Singers took their music on the road.

7.

Mavis Staples made her first solo foray while at Epic Records with The Staple Singers, releasing a lone single "Crying in the Chapel" to little fanfare in the late 1960s.

8.

Mavis Staples made a major national return with the release of the album Have a Little Faith on Chicago's Alligator Records, produced by Jim Tullio, in 2004.

9.

In 2004, Mavis Staples contributed to a Verve release by legendary jazz-rock guitarist, John Scofield.

10.

Mavis Staples's voice has been sampled by some of the biggest selling artists, including Salt 'N' Pepa, Ice Cube, Ludacris, and Hozier.

11.

Mavis Staples has recorded with a wide variety of musicians, from her friend, Bob Dylan to The Band, Ray Charles, Prince, Nona Hendryx, George Jones, Natalie Merchant, Ann Peebles, and Delbert McClinton.

12.

Mavis Staples has provided vocals on current albums by Los Lobos and Dr John, and she appears on tribute albums to such artists as Johnny Paycheck, Stephen Foster and Bob Dylan.

13.

In 2003, Mavis Staples performed in Memphis at the Orpheum Theater alongside a cadre of her fellow former Stax Records stars during "Soul Comes Home," a concert held in conjunction with the grand opening of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music at the original site of Stax Records, and appears on the CD and DVD that were recorded and filmed during the event.

14.

Mavis Staples was a judge for the 3rd and 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

15.

Mavis Staples performed at the 33rd Kennedy Center Honors, singing in a tribute to honoree Paul McCartney.

16.

Mavis Staples headlined on June 10,2012, at Chicago's Annual Blues Festival in Grant Park.

17.

On June 27,2015, Mavis Staples performed on the Park Stage of Glastonbury Somerset UK.

18.

On October 31,2015, Mavis Staples performed with Joan Osborne in Washington, DC at The George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium as part of their Solid Soul Tour.

19.

In January 2017, Mavis Staples was featured as a guest vocalist on "I Give You Power", a single from Arcade Fire benefiting the American Civil Liberties Union.

20.

In May 2019, Mavis Staples celebrated her 80th birthday with a concert at the Apollo Theater, 63 years after first appearing at the theater as a teenager with her family band, the Staple Singers, in 1956.

21.

In June 2020, Mavis Staples collaborated with Run The Jewels on the track "Pulling the Pin" from their studio album RTJ4.

22.

In 2022, Mavis Staples released Carry Me Home, a collaboration with Levon Helm, recorded at Helm's Midnight Ramble in 2011.

23.

Mavis Staples performed the title theme song for 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

24.

Mavis 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.

25.

On September 8,2015, Mavis Staples was a featured performer on the premiere episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, during which Stephen Colbert thanked her personally for appearing.

26.

On June 15,2019, Mavis Staples appeared as the featured musical guest on the CBS This Morning "Saturday Sessions" segment, where she played songs from her newest release, We Get By.

27.

Mavis Staples was briefly married to Spencer Leak in 1964; they divorced when Mavis Staples would not end her music career to stay home.

28.

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.

29.

Mavis Staples was named No 56 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2008 list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

30.

On February 13,2011, Mavis Staples won her first Grammy award in the category for Best Americana Album for You Are Not Alone.

31.

On May 7,2011, Mavis Staples was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

32.

On May 6,2012, Mavis 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.

33.

Mavis Staples was recognized as a 2016 Kennedy Center Honoree at the 39th annual gala event held in Washington, DC.

34.

In 2017, Mavis Staples was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame.

35.

On November 6,2021, Mavis Staples was inducted as a Laureate at the 57th Laureate Convocation of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, and awarded the Order of Lincoln by the Governor of Illinois.