Mavis Staples is back to spread good sounds

Legendary singer Mavis Staples decided to retire in 2023. Then she changed her mind.

“She’s driven to spread the message,” said music journalist and Staples biographer Greg Kot. “It’s tough being a touring artist when you’re 85 years old. But I’ve never seen a woman with more energy and stamina on stage at that age.”

Staples is an artist who has both evolved with time and stayed true to her roots. When she was 11, she began performing with her family group, the Staple Singers. The group’s style shifted over the years, ranging from gospel to funk, soul and civil rights anthems. Staples continues to perform music in the vein of the family group, releasing R&B, soul and gospel albums.

“It’s kind of remarkable when you think about the careers of artists who are relevant,” Kot said. “She’s reinvented herself as a solo artist, and to still be at or near the top of her game when she’s in her mid-80s — that’s pretty rare.”

Redefining gospel

Ann Caldwell, a Charleston resident and singer who will perform several times during the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, grew up hearing the Staple Singers on the radio. For her, gospel was what she heard her mother listen to every morning on the radio.

“That was probably some of the first music that I ever heard,” she said.

The Staples family’s mix of gospel and R&B stood out to Caldwell because it makes the listener want to move but not outright dance. Kot calls this mixture revolutionary, combining genres in a way no one had done before.

“If you were in the South during the first half of the 20th century, blues and gospel did not go together. It was like Saturday night and Sunday morning — never the twain shall meet,” Kot said. “The Staple Singers brought those together.”

Combining music and activism

Kot believes the longtime Chicago tradition of combining music and activism began with the Staples’ commitment to the civil rights movement. Modern hip-hop artists with political ties, such as Jamila Woods and Chance the Rapper, trace back to Pop Staples’ relationship with Martin Luther King Jr.

To this day, Staples works to spread the message her family shared in the 1960s.

“If you listen to the records, it’s been there from the start. It’s about treating your fellow man with respect, no matter what color their skin is or what gender they are or where they’re from,” Kot said. “That’s been central to what she’s been all about from the very beginning.”

Called to share her perspective

Kot became acquainted with Staples while he was working as a music critic for the Chicago Tribune. And when he pitched writing a biography on Staples and her family, she said she only trusted him to write it. For Staples, trust is everything. At the same time, Kot said, she will hug people immediately upon first greeting.

“When you meet her, right away you feel like you’ve known her for a lot longer than you actually have,” Kot said. “Certain singers have this diva-esque quality, and she’s the opposite of that — a very, very relatable human being.”

What drove Staples to reverse her retirement? The state of the world.

“I’ve talked to her a number of times, and there have been moments in her life where she’s felt really discouraged, like things are going backwards,” Kot said. “I think she feels the need to keep pushing. She said, ‘I thought we turned a corner, but as we’ve gone along, I realized we’ve not.’”

Staples is the sole survivor of the Staple Singers, and she is driven to spread their message to the world.

“I don’t think she’ll ever feel totally satisfied with the way things are until that goal is reached, which may not be in her lifetime, but she’s not going to give up fighting for it,” Kot said.

For Staples, retirement doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.

IF YOU WANT TO GO: Mavis Staples will perform at 9 p.m. May 30 at the College of Charleston’s Cistern Yard.

Ally Watkinson is an arts, style and culture journalism graduate student at Syracuse University.