Musical palate cleanser, no mas edition

C’mon, 2016.  Enough’s enough.

Sharon Jones, the soul singer and powerful voice of the band the Dap-Kings, died on Friday of pancreatic cancer that had been in remission but returned last year. She was 60.

Ms. Jones’s death was confirmed by Judy Miller Silverman, her publicist. She said Ms. Jones was surrounded by members of the Dap-Kings and other loved ones when she died.

She continued performing throughout the summer, even while undergoing chemotherapy that she said caused neuropathy in her feet and legs and restricted her movements onstage. But Ms. Jones remained undeterred.

“Getting out on that stage, that’s my therapy,” Ms. Jones said in a New York Times interview published in July. “You have to look at life the way it is. No one knows how long I have. But I have the strength now, and I want to continue.”

The summer tour promoted “I’m Still Here,” a single with the Dap-Kings that detailed Ms. Jones’s birth in a brutally segregated South, a childhood in the burned-out Bronx, and a career hampered by record executives who considered her “too short, too fat, too black and too old.”

Ms. Jones was that rare music star who found fame in middle age, when she was in her 40s.

In addition to working as a correction officer at Rikers Island and an armed guard for Wells Fargo, Ms. Jones, who had grown up singing gospel in church choirs, initially dabbled in professional music as a session singer and the vocalist in a wedding band, Good N Plenty.

My favorite of hers, “100 Days, 100 Nights”:

Sigh.  This dying shit’s for the birds.

8 Comments

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8 responses to “Musical palate cleanser, no mas edition

  1. Athens Dog

    Damn.

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  2. aristoggle

    Patton Oswald lost his wife earlier this year. This is what he had to say in July:

    “Dear 2016: You are a 100% shit year. In every aspect: personal, professional, emotional, historical, moral, cultural & rational. Fuck you.”

    And, when Leonard Cohen died earlier this week:

    “Leonard Cohen dying is so goddamned symbolic right now. You just don’t let up, do you 2016?”

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  3. Stumpy Pepys

    Born in my hometown…Augusta, GA! What a voice!

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  4. LeoDub

    Spinning Miss Sharon now…RIP, you’ll be missed. The consummate performer. So glad I caught a show a couple years ago.

    Y’all don’t miss others on the Daptone label – Lee Fields, Charles Bradley, Naomi Shelton, Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, etc. Really great stuff. Several Daptone compilations out there taboot. Here’s one from Sharon and Lee…one of my faves.

    Enjoy! And Goooooooo Dawgs!

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  5. Bulldog Joe

    Saw her at the Lucas Theatre in Savannah this spring.

    She spoke honestly about her illness and invited people on stage to dance with her.

    Great show as always and she hung out in the lobby long after the performance.

    Very talented and courageous performer.

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  6. Just gutted about it. I was unable to take advantage of the opportunity to see her perform live and in person. This year sucks

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