The queen of contemporary soul Sharon Jones born Sharon Lafaye Jones passed away Friday at a New York hospital after battle with pancreatic cancer.
A statement on her website read: “We are deeply saddened to announce that Sharon Jones has passed away after a heroic battle against pancreatic cancer. She was surrounded by her loved ones, including the Dap-Kings. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts during this difficult time”
The singer is widely known for her adrenaline-charged performances with a powerful voice, and music fusing funk and soul. She had been performing for decades but her main breakthrough came in 2002 after the release of “Dap Dippin\’” a debut album with the Dap-Kings and later her 2014 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album for the album “Give the People What They Want”
Sharon Jones is an artist that for years stuck to soul music despite the wave and transformations that came with other genres. Together with Dap-Kings they created great fresh music that spoke to the heart of the listeners much to the delight of their many fans. Their last album “It’s A Holiday Soul Party” was released in 2015.
The singer who was popularly known as ‘the female James Brown’ was diagnosed with the cancer in 2013, but would not let the cancer deter her, she continued performing, when she could, throughout the time and was quoted on numerous occasions saying the disease would not stop her singing.
Her music and performance together with Dap-Kings was featured on the popular TV show Marvel’s Luke Cage.
The documentary on her life ‘Miss Sharon Jones’ was released in 2015.
Tributes for the singer continue to be shared on social media.