*Pervis Staples, who along with his father and sisters, comprised the legendary Staples Singers, has died, according to a spokesman on Wednesday. He was 85.
Staples died May 6 at his home in Dalton, Illinois, according to Adam Ayers, a spokesman for Staples’ sister, Mavis Staples. s of this posting, the cause of death has not been revealed.
Pervis Staples sang gospel songs with his father, the guitar-playing Roebuck “Pops” Staples, and sisters Mavis, Yvonne and Cleotha in Chicago churches before gaining a national following when they began recording songs such as “So Soon,” “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and “Uncloudy Day” for Vee Jay records in the 1950s.
The group gained fame in the 1960s by singing music that urged change on a variety of social and religious issues. The Staple Singers gained a huge audience with their first No. 1 hit, “I’ll Take You There” in 1972 and followed with top 40 hits “Respect Yourself,” “Heavy Makes You Happy,” and “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me).”
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Here’s more via SF Gate:
Pervis Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his family in 1999. The group also received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 2005.
Mavis Staples, the lone survivor of the group, said in a statement that her brother’s childhood was filled with wonderful experiences.
“He liked to think of this period of his life as setting the stage for all that he wanted to do in life,” she said. “Some of Pervis’ best friends as a youngster included Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, and Jerry Butler. Pervis and the guys would stand under the lamp posts in the summertime singing doo-wop songs.”
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