‘It’s dark in the US right now. But I turn on a light, you know?’: Mavis Staples on Prince, Martin Luther King and her 75-year singing career

<p>As she releases a new album, the soul and gospel legend answers your questions on Stax Records, duetting with David Byrne and the fight for civil rights</p><p><strong>Can you speak a bit about the </strong><strong>array of songs and artists on your new record? What kind of message and lyrics do you want to sing at this point in your life? </strong><em>steve_bayley<br></em>The first song I got for the album was Human Mind, written by Hozier and Allison Russell, and that really set the tone for the entire record. It starts: “I deal in love baby, in good words from above … and I ain’t giving up.” I cried when I was trying to sing it for the first time. Then the next song was Beautiful Strangers by Kevin Morby. All the songs are part of me and what I’ve been singing about my whole life. There’s some about war, fighting, love … some about hard times, like the farmer whose losing his farm. Things that are going on in the world today, so Sad and Beautiful World is the perfect title.</p><p><strong>I loved the documentary </strong><strong>Summer of Soul</strong><strong>. What was it like to play there [the </strong><strong>1969 Harlem Cultural festival</strong><strong>] and sing alongside </strong><strong>Mahalia Jackson</strong><strong>? Same question for </strong><strong>Wattstax [the 1973 Stax Records benefit concert in Watts, LA, to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 riots</strong><strong>]</strong>.<strong> </strong><em>snak3span</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/oct/30/its-dark-in-the-us-right-now-but-i-turn-on-a-light-you-know-mavis-staples-on-prince-martin-luther-king-and-her-75-year-singing-career">Continue reading...</a>