Sharon Jones
Sharon Jones
Sharon Lafaye Jonesis an American soul and funk singer. She is the lead singer of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a soul and funk band based in Brooklyn, New York. Jones experienced breakthrough success relatively late in life, releasing her first record when she was 40 years old. In 2014, Jones was nominated for her first Grammy, in the category Best R&B Album, for Give the People What They Want...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGospel Singer
Date of Birth4 May 1956
CityAugusta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
I'm grateful to be alive, because I really did not think I was going to be alive, onstage performing songs.
I don't know why I keep saying this, and I don't know why I keep using their names... And I'm not dogging them. I'm not slandering them. I'm not saying they are bad musicians. But how can Taylor Swift or Justin Timberlake win for R&B and funk? They are pop singers.
I think I bring the songs that aren't about me or related to me to life. It's like the song 'How Do I Let A Good Man Down?' Let me tell you, I didn't write that song - because if I have a good man, I ain't going to let him down.
I'm not trying to be a pop singer.
I'm sitting at home every time there's a Grammy. It's like, 'What is Sharon doing tonight?' I'm sitting home watching it. But it's OK. But if you go to Europe, there are a lot of young, independent labels that's doing soul music. You might call them retro because they're young and they're trying to imitate somebody. But I ain't retro.
A lot of people call me gay because they don't see me with anyone.
I miss my hair, but I feel like going out there with some fake braids wouldn't be right. I want to be the most genuine performer I can be.
If I can't pronounce it, I don't want to put it in my body. Everything to me now is organic, natural, right from the farm.
When I first played at the Apollo, the owner didn't even know who Sharon Jones was. The Apollo had never seen so many white people coming uptown.
At first, they told me it was just bile-duct cancer, but once they went in, they removed the gallbladder, the head of my pancreas, and a foot-and-a-half of my small intestine, and built me another bile duct and connected it to my stomach. It turned out to be pancreatic cancer, stage two, so, very aggressive.
Everything on my body turned real dark. My toes, under my feet, inside my mouth, under my tongue - I just turned really dark. I'm still here, but it's gonna take a while to get back to normal. Chemo kills all the good cells along with the bad.
I feel like this: When you call me in to do something with you, you must want me to do soul-singing. Because you know I'm a soul singer. Don't ask me to come in and rap. And don't ask me to come in and sing pop.
I'd love to get into one of Tyler Perry's movies - play a little role, have a little character. I don't care. But more than two lines! More than two words!
I love the smaller clubs. I love the theaters. I love the festivals. There are things I don't like. At certain theaters, people can't get up and dance.