Mavis Staples: 'We're Not All the Way Where Dr. King Wanted to Take Us'

Chris Strong

Mavis Staples began her singing career in 1950 as a God-fearing gospel belter alongside her sisters in a family band. But as America began confronting its racial demons in the following decade, the Staple Singers joined the uprising.

Roebuck "Pops" Staples, a close friend of Martin Luther King, Jr and the band's songwriter and guitarist, steered his daughters beyond the spiritual to address more pressing earthly concerns. Message songs like 'Long Walk to DC,' 'When Will We Be Paid' and 'Respect Yourself' were Civil Rights anthems and the eventual Rock and Roll Hall of Famers topped the charts with their celebratory classic 'I'll Take You There.'

In the decades since, Mavis Staples has continued to spread her activist message through song while fans like Prince and, most recently, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy have helped reintroduce the legend to new audiences. Last year's album, 'You Are Not Alone,' produced by Tweedy for hip record label Anti-, won Staples her first Grammy (not counting the Staple Singers' 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award) and she'll soon be returning to Tweedy's studio.

On the eve of her tour, launching Jan. 15 with a Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute concert, Staples spoke to Spinner about her pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement, her thoughts on hip-hop materialism and her wish that Justin Bieber and Katy Perry would sing inspirational songs that could change the world.