The beloved national treasure Mavis Staples‘ latest solo album, the Brad Cook-produced Sad And Beautiful World is slated for a November 7, 2025 release through Anti- Records. The album reportedly sees the 86 year-old legend standing side-by-side with us in the face of dangers she knows all too well — and comes at a time when increasing number of people out there have reason to wonder who and what could be lost.
The new album spans seven decades of the American songbook — a range nearly as vast as Staples’ remarkably lengthy career — and includes reinventions of timeless songs, as well as a batch of originals.
Recently, the legend performed the Hozier and Allison Russell co-written album single “Human Mind” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Human Mind” was the first track recorded for the Sad And Beautiful World sessions and the single sees the legend acknowledging the complexities, contradictions, violence and heartbreak of our world, while still finding hope and goodness in people — and in turn, the world over a slow-burning, Staple Singers-inspired arrangement.
The song seems to say, “Yes, life will break your heart many times over; but there are small yet mighty measure of love, kindness and faith that hold it all together, barely. And that is what we should cling to when it’s especially dark.
The 86 year-old legend is about to embark on a run of tour dates throughout Fall 25 and Winter 26. The tour includes a February 28, 2026 stop at The Beacon Theatre. If you haven’t seen the legend yet, you should.
TOUR DATES
Nov 6 – Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse
Nov 8 – Portsmouth, NH @ Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club
Nov 21 – San Antonio, TX @ Carver Community Cultural Center
Dec 10 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom w/ Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Dec 11 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom w/ Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
January 10 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre (w/ support from Nathaniel Rateliff solo)
Jan 15 – Tyler, TX @ UT Tyler Cowan Center
Jan 16 – Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom
Jan 18 – Fort Walton Beach, FL @ 30A Songwriters Festival
January 24 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium (w/ support from MJ Lenderman)
February 28 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre (w/ support from Allison Russell)
March 12 – Medford, OR @ Holly Theatre
March 14 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
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