See Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy Close Out ‘Late Show’ DNC Run With ‘Freedom Highway’

It’s not Beyonce, but Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples closed out a week of The Late Show’s DNC coverage with a performance of the Staple Singers’ civil rights-era anthem “Freedom Highway.”

The two Chicago legends and frequent collaborators took the stage at the Auditorium Theatre, where Stephen Colbert’s show has been headquartered this week to deliver their updated rendition of the track that was penned to mark the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. 

As Colbert noted in the introduction, the song was recorded in Chicago nearly 60 years ago, with Mavis — the last living member of the Staple Singers family — on vocals. Staples would later revisit the track in 2008, recording a new version to coincide with Barack Obama winning that year’s presidential election.

Tweedy was served as producer, chief instrumentalist, and co-songwriter on three of Staples’ studio albums over the past 15 years: 2010’s You Are Not Alone, 2013’s One True Vine, and 2017’s If All I Was Was Black. Staples last released the Ben Harper-produced We Get By in 2019, but she recently unveiled a new single titled “Worthy,” a collaboration with MNDR. 

Staples also made an appearance at this year’s Newport Folk Festival to perform the Band’s “The Weight” with Joan Baez and Hozier.

Tweedy, meanwhile, will spend election season on the road on a North American solo tour that runs from September 21 to October 30.