The music world has lost another one.
Sharon Lafaye Jones, energetic sister of soul and lead singer of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, has passed away after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 60 years old.
First diagnosed in 2013, the singer underwent surgery and treatment, and returned to the road that same year. Her cancer returned in November of last year, two years after the band’s album, Give the People What They Want.
Jones was born in South Carolina in 1956 and moved to New York as a youngster, growing up in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Before 2002’s debut record, Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Jones was a corrections officer and part-time wedding singer. In 1996, she met Dap-Kings bassist Gabriel Roth along with Daptone Records co-founder, and was asked to join the band.
Jones was also the subject of a recent documentary, Miss Sharon Jones!, chronicling her battle with cancer and relationship with the Dap-Kings.
We should keep her music alive. In honor of her dedication to live performance, here’s a select collection of her music, one song from every album released. RIP, Sharon.
From: Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (2002)
From Naturally (2005):
From 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007):
From I Learned the Hard Way (2010):
From Soul Time! (2011):
From Give the People What They Want (2014):
From It’s a Holiday Soul Party (2015)
Fuck cancer. Fuck 2016.
What are your favorite Sharon Jones jams?
