Sharon Jones, influential and amazingly talented soul singer and leader of the Dap-Kings, has passed away. Jones was aged 60; her passing ends a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2013. After taking time out of recording and performing to undergo chemotherapy and surgery, her cancer entered remission until this year.
According to a press statement, Jones “was surrounded by her loved ones, including the Dap-Kings.”
NPR has recalled an interview she gave about the pain endured during treatment. “I couldn’t sing. I couldn’t get air because, people didn’t realise, I was cut across the diaphragm, all the way up from right under the centre under my breasts, all the way down to the top of my navel, almost.”
She went on to lament how she has never fully recovered from a creative point of view. “That energy, I mean, everyone said my energy was great, but I didn’t feel it at all. Even now, the days on the stage I’m just not myself, I don’t have that energy. The legs doesn’t lift up like I want to with the pain, the neuropathy from certain chemo. It’s a hinder, but I do the shows, but it’s not the same.”
The press release also requested that donations be made to the following charities, rather than sending flowers:
The Lustgarten Foundation
James Brown Family Foundation
Little Kids Rock
Below, watch Jones performing with Prince, who also passed away in April this year.
Jones will be missed.
Image: Jesse Dittmar/Redux