R&B and funk singer Sharon Jones dies in New York aged 60

NEW YORK-based retro R&B and funk singer, Sharon Jones, who began her recording career at age 40 and had a string of popular albums and international tours with her backing band The Dap-Kings, died on 18th November in Cooperstown, New York of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Jones was born in Augusta, Georgia on 4th May 1956. Moving to New York City as a young child, Jones sang with local funk bands and got recording sessions as a backing singer. Unable to make any progress in showbiz she worked as an armoured car guard for Wells Fargo bank until 1996 when she did a recording session for R&B singer Lee Fields for French record label Pure Records. After recording some singles for Desco Records, Sharon was signed to the newly-formed Daptone Records and released a full-length album with the band The Dap Kings. With the growing interest in old school R&B and funk her subsequent albums like 'Naturally' (2005), 'I Learned The Hard Way (2010) and 'Give the People What They Want' (2014) all sold well. In 2013 Jones was diagnosed with cancer and in 2015 a documentary film Miss Sharon Jones! was released.