Mavis Staples

With a professional career spanning nearly seven decades, Mavis Staples is the greatest living gospel and soul singer — a five-time GRAMMY winner, a 2016 Kennedy Center honoree, a 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a Blues and Gospel Hall of Fame inductee, and recipient of the 2005 GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award whose soaring voice turned classic spirituals into joyous declarations of freedom.  

Born in Chicago, Staples made her professional debut at age 10 with her legendary family band, The Staple Singers, singing on timeless songs that became chart topping hits and indelible anthems of the Civil Rights Movement. Her unforgettable performances on a string of classics including “Uncloudy Day,” “Some Truth To Tell,” “Freedom Highway,” “Respect Yourself,” “Why Am I Treated So Bad,” “I’ll Take You There,” and “Let’s Do It Again” have all become intrinsic parts of the American cultural fabric.  

Staples has recorded 18 albums as a solo artist and led a career that includes a staggering number of highlights, from performing at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration and marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to collaborating with Bob Dylan, Prince, The Band, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, and countless others.  

Her newest ANTI Records release, 2025’s Sad and Beautiful World, is her fourteenth album and won GRAMMYs for Best American Roots Performance and Best Americana Performance, and includes material by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Curtis Mayfield, Gillian Welch, and Tom Waits. 

Staples received the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award at SFJAZZ Gala 2020.