According to a message posted on Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings' Facebook page as well as on the band's official website, singer Sharon Jones passed away Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, "surrounded by her loved ones, including the Dap-Kings." She was 60 years old.

A longtime staple in The Current's playlist, Jones and the Dap-Kings first performed in The Current's studio in 2005. In 2010, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings performed at Rock the Garden.

Jones was born in South Carolina, but lived most of her life in New York, where she first got into singing as a gospel singer at church. Her professional career began in 1996, when she was hired as a session backing vocalist for Lee Fields. In the early 2000s, the newly formed Daptone Records embraced Jones as a lead singer, subsequently building a band around her. The label released Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings debut album, Dap Dippin' with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, in 2002. Prior to her full-time music career, Jones had worked as a corrections officer at the prison on Rikers Island in New York, and as an armored car guard for Wells Fargo Bank.

Known for her powerful voice, her soulful songs and her indomitable spirit, Jones was recently featured in the documentary, Miss Sharon Jones!, which detailed her music career and her battle with cancer, first diagnosed in 2013.

In 2014, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings' Give The People What They Want earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B album. Jones's most recent studio album was the 2015 holiday release, It's a Holiday Soul Party.

Here is video of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings performing at Rock the Garden 2010:

Resources

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - official site