It was on Epic that the Staple Singers developed a style more accessible to mainstream audiences, with "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" and "For What It's Worth" (Stephen Stills) in 1967.

In 1968, the Staple Singers signed to Stax Records and released two albums with Steve Cropper—Soul Folk in Action and We'll Get Over, Pervis returning for them.

[11] After Cropper left Stax, Al Bell produced their recordings, conducting the rhythm sessions at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and cutting the overdubs himself with engineer/musician Terry Manning at Memphis's Ardent Studios,[12] moving in a more funk and soul direction.

It's Mavis's lowdown, occasionally undefined growl that dominates, of course; you should hear how secular she gets with an O. V. Wright blues that got buried on The Staple Swingers.

Both hits sold over one million copies and were each awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America.

[14] The song's theme of self-empowerment had universal appeal, released in the period immediately following the intense American civil rights movement of the 1960s.

In 1976, they collaborated with The Band for their film The Last Waltz, performing on the song "The Weight" (which The Staple Singers had previously covered on their first Stax album).

The 1984 album Turning Point featured a cover of Talking Heads' "Slippery People", which reached the Top 5 on the Dance chart.

She appeared at Glastonbury in 2015[18] and 2019,[19] and her 2016 album Livin' on a High Note includes a simple acoustic version of a Martin Luther King sermon in the track "MLK Song".

[5] Pervis Staples died suddenly in his home in Dolton, Illinois, on May 6, 2021, at the age of 85, leaving Mavis as the band's last surviving member.