Mavis Staples’ 85th Birthday Salute Brings Out Chris Stapleton, Hozier, Black Pumas, Bonnie Raitt and Other All-Star Acolytes
22.04.2024 - 09:58
/ variety.com
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic If we had the ability to assess who is the most beloved figure in music — not in overall numbers, but sheer adoration, per capita and per peer — it likely wouldn’t be Taylor or Beyoncé but Mavis Staples, who has been taking us there since the late ’60s. There being the smile that crosses anyone’s face when fortunate enough to be in the same room, or even in just giving a passing thought to that voice, that presence, and all the different ways in which Staples embodies righteousness.
The term “national treasure” doesn’t even begin to get at it. With flowers-giving being a natural state of affairs for Staples at this point in her stature, drawing up a solid list of willing performers for a salute to the legendary singer probably doesn’t count as the most daunting task ever.
An assemblage of musical greats in their own right gathered at the YouTube Theater in the greater L.A. area Thursday night for “Mavis Staples 85th: All-Star Birthday Concert,” a three-and-a-half-hour affair that had a roster including Hozier, Chris Stapleton, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Black Pumas performing on their own or, eventually, with the birthday gal.
Also on the crowded lineup poster were Jeff Tweedy, Nathaniel Rateliff, Norah Jones, Grace Potter, the War and Treaty, Taj Mahal, Robert Randolph, Keb’ Mo, Trombone Shorty and Michael McDonald … fronting a band assembled by Don Was and including such name players as Benmont Tench and Greg Leisz (plus her longtime guitarist Rick Holmstrom, who led Staples’ own touring band onto the stage for the very last stretch). The words “You Are Not Alone” — the title of a Tweedy-penned comeback song — were fairly applicable by the time the full
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