Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staplesis an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She has recorded and performed with her family's band The Staple Singers, and also as a solo artist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSoul Singer
Date of Birth10 July 1939
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
alive bank calling chance legacy money nobody sing stop took
I've got to sing for Pops; I've got to keep my father's legacy alive because he started all of this. So I started calling people, and nobody would give me a chance, but I didn't let that stop me. I took money out the bank and I started making me a record, and I did it in this guy's basement.
cool father hear loved sing wished
Pops, he was a singer's singer. I loved to hear my father sing. He just was so laid-back and cool. I always wished I could sing like Pops.
cappella embarrass front singing teacher
My high-school a cappella teacher would embarrass me in front of the choir. 'Mavis, you're in the basement. Mavis, you're singing with the boys.' I said, 'Mr. Finch, my voice isn't soprano. I can't sing up there with the girls.' So I just got out of the choir.
song father singing
I feel so good singing songs that I sang with my father.
heart singing my-heart
I'm just singing what I feel in my heart.
singing gone want
Whenever somebody tells me they want me to stop singing, I'm gone.
song singing festivals
We enjoyed the fact that we were called to the folk festivals and we got to know Joan Baez, Dylan. We were singing strictly gospel, but then after we started hearing songs that they would sing, we saw that those songs were very fitting for us because they were singing the truth, and truth is gospel.
people singing purpose
I never sang for a Grammy, for money, for fame. That's my whole purpose for singing: for people, for the fans.
change dr grateful great king lives saw signs struggle
We've had a great change. Dr King saw to that. I was so grateful to see the 'colored only' signs come off the water fountains and bathrooms in the south. But the struggle lives on.
There are songs that I have to play!
cd love might
I don't know which way I'm going. My next CD might be country, might be Dylan, might be Mick Jagger. I don't know. I love a challenge.
disco
I can't just turn over and sing disco or rock.
both family side voice
I get my voice from my mother's side of the family. My mother and my grandmother both had strong voices.
family harm pops stick strongest taught unit
Pops always taught us that family is the strongest unit in the world. If you stick with your family, nobody can break you, nobody can harm you. You'll always have your family.