At 86 years old, music legend Mavis Staples is preparing to release one of the most star-studded albums of her career. Titled Sad and Beautiful World, the album is set for release on 7 November and features a host of famous collaborators. Staples will be answering questions from readers about her remarkable life in music.
The album includes covers of songs by Curtis Mayfield, Gillian Welch, Frank Ocean, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Porter Wagoner, Mark “Sparklehorse” Linkous and Kevin Morby, as well as new material, including a track written for Staples by Hozier and Allison Russell. Performing alongside her are Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), MJ Lenderman, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy and Derek Trucks.
Staples first rose to fame in the mid-1950s as a member of the Staple Singers, a family group that became a cornerstone of American gospel music and a key voice in the civil rights movement. The group twice topped the US singles charts. In her solo career, she has collaborated with Prince, Aretha Franklin, David Byrne and Bob Dylan, whom she was romantically involved with in the 1960s, even turning down a marriage proposal.
Despite being a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a Grammy lifetime achievement award recipient, Staples has continued to record actively. After a hiatus caring for her sister Cleotha and mourning her father Pops Staples, she returned in the mid-2000s with a string of successful albums, three of which were produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. She also collaborated with the Band’s Levon Helm shortly before his death.
Readers can submit questions for Staples before 4pm BST on Thursday 23 October. Her answers will be published online on 30 October and in print on 31 October.
