Mavis Staples on Prince, MLK and a life onstage

By Brittany Luse,

Jessica Placzek, Corey Antonio Rose, Alexis Williams, Liam McBain, Veralyn Williams

Published July 10, 2024 at 9:34 AM EDT

Grammy award-winning soul singer Mavis Staples

This week, the legendary singer and civil rights figure Mavis Staples is turning 85 and there's no sign of her slowing down: She released a new song, "Worthy," and a children's book, Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples.

Today, Mavis joins host Brittany Luse to share stories from her life: what it was like to be mentored by Mahalia Jackson, how she helped create the soundtrack for the Civil Rights movement, how she was spurned by the church then welcomed back, and what it was like to collaborate with Prince.

Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.

Tags

NPR Podcasts

Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, and cultural critic. She is the host of It's Been a Minute and For Colored Nerds. Previously Luse hosted The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, and Teen Vogue.

Jessica Placzek

Corey Antonio Rose

Alexis Williams

Liam McBain

Liam McBain (he/him) is an assistant producer on It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders. He's interested in stories at the margins of culture.

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.