Mavis Staples’ 85th Birthday Concert To Feature Chris Stapleton, Black Pumas & More

Legendary singer Mavis Staples is set to celebrate her 85th birthday on Thursday, April 18, with a concert featuring performances by Chris Stapleton, Black Pumas and several other top acts.

Blackbird Presents will produce the star-studded celebration that will take place at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.

Grace Potter, The War and Treaty and Keb’ Mo’ are among the other big names that will take the stage at the event.

The lineup also includes Hozier, Jackson Browne, Jeff Tweedy, Michael McDonald, Nathaniel Rateliff, Norah Jones, Robert Randolph and Taj Mahal.

Staples, who will turn 85 on July 10, is a member of both the Blues and Rock & Roll Hall of Fames and is a three-time Grammy Award winner as well as a recipient of the Grammy lifetime achievement award. She is also a National Arts Awards Lifetime Achievement recipient and a Kennedy Center honoree.

“At the end of last year, I was talking about retiring,” Staples said in a statement. “But after sitting with it for a while, I stopped myself and thought, ‘Well what would I do?’ I asked the Lord, ‘Why am I still here? What do you want of me? Have you kept me around for a reason?’ And the only reason I could see is to sing my songs. That’s why I’m still here, and I’m looking forward to this show with my friends singing my songs, too!”

Blackbird Presents CEO/Chief Creative Officer Keith Wortman said in a statement, “Producing this show is the honor of my life, as we all come together to celebrate a woman whom has given so much to so many over the years through her actions, her music, and her magic.”