On Monday Mavis Staples performed a stirring rendition of her protest song “Build a Bridge” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Watch it below.

The song is featured on her critically acclaimed new record If All I Was Was Black, produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. “The love I have for Mavis and the desire to be part of some kind of positive change are a big part of this album for me,” Tweedy said. The album is available HERE for purchase.
A Martin Luther King Jr. Day performance is especially meaningful for Mavis, as her family group The Staple Singers would perform at meetings before Dr. King spoke, and Mavis’ father, Pops Staples, was inspired to write the iconic “Freedom Highway” in honor of Dr. King’s work and the Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. When discussing the themes of the new album Staples said: “Bring us all together as a people—that’s what I hope to do. You can’t stop me. You can’t break me. I’m too loving,” she says. “These songs are going to change the world.”
Staples will begin her 2018 tour dates in Burlington, Vermont on January 24; all upcoming dates are listed below.
1/24 – Burlington, VT – Flynn Center
1/25 – Brownfield, ME – Stone Mountain Arts Center
1/26 – Bar Harbor, ME – The Criterion
2/3 – Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre
2/16 – Bow, WA – Skagit Valley Casino Resort
2/17 – Bow, WA – Skagit Valley Casino Resort
2/21 – Greenville, SC – Peace Center
2/23 – Charleston, SC – Galliard Center
2/25 – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
3/3 – Park City, UT – Eccles Center
6/7 – 6/10 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo