Sharon Jones was an Augusta Georgia native who was known for her soulful voice and her fighting spirit. She was told in the 70s when starting in the music industry that she didn’t have the “look” and that she was too dark-skinned to make it in the music industry.

She continued pursuing her dream and worked a number of different jobs, including a corrections officer at Rikers Island and an Armored Car Guard at Wells Fargo in between working as a backing singer.

She received her break in 1996 when she was the only backing singer that arrived for a session with soul legend Lee Fields. Having impressed the session organizers Gabriel Rothand and Philippe Lehman. She recorded a few songs with Lee Fields, which snowballed into a solo album with Gabriel Roth’s new record label Daptone in 2000.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings recorded 7 studio albums and are best-known for 100 Days, 100 Nights; Give the People What They Want; and I learned the Hard Way. The later was their biggest commercial success, peaking at 15 on the Billboard charts. Sharon sadly passed away on November 18, 2016 after a battle with cancer.