Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples was born and raised in Chicago and came up singing in the Staple Singers, the family group led by her father, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, with his tremolo-heavy guitar under the voices of his children. The group moved from church gospel into message songs during the civil rights movement, and later recorded for Stax, where 'Respect Yourself' and 'I'll Take You There' became their best-known records.

Her solo work runs alongside and after the family group, including records made with Prince at Paisley Park and a later run of albums produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Her low, grainy contralto sits at the centre of all of it, and her live sets still mix church standards, Staple Singers songs and covers of younger writers.