(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Bettye LaVette, a hard-working, distinctive R&B singer in the vein of Aretha Franklin and whose career stretches back to the early 1960s as a teen star, who then lost the spotlight for decades only to have it find her again in recent years, will perform at the Colonial Theatre on Saturday, May 26, 2012, at 8pm.

LaVette’s career reached an early peak in 1965, with the song, “Let Me Down Easy.” A tour with James Brown followed, but LaVette would never again enjoy such success until she was nearly 60 years old, in the year 2005, when her album, I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise – featuring renditions of contemporary songs by the likes of Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Sinead O’Connor, Lucinda Williams, and Dolly Parton – sparked a full-fledged late-career comeback.

LaVette went on to receive a 2011 Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Interpretations – The British Rock Songbook, which featured songs by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Who, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd among others.

LaVette performed at the Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in a duet with Jon Bon Jovi in January 2009, and she performed with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Radio City Music Hall in New York for David Lynch Foundation’s Transcendental Meditation Benefit in April 2009. In 2010, LaVette was chosen to support Robert Plant on select dates of his US Summer Tour. She returned to Carnegie Hall in 2011 as a featured performer at the tribute event, The Music of Neil Young at Carnegie Hall. This was her third performance at the legendary hall, having previously been featured in benefits including tributes to Joni Mitchell (2006) and The Who (2010).

Tickets to Bettye LaVette are $20-$55. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Theatre Ticket Office at 111 South Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 or by calling 413.997.4444 or online at the Colonial Theatre . The Ticket Office is open Monday-Friday 10am–5pm, Saturdays 10am–2pm or on any performance day from 10am until intermission.