Sharon Jones

Jones spent years singing in local bands and at weddings while working other jobs. A 1996 session led to her first recording as a frontwoman at 40, and the Dap-Kings albums and touring gradually brought a much larger audience. The breakthrough was a process, not a single lucky appearance. Listen to the early Daptone work for the authority already present in her phrasing and stagecraft: the industry opportunity arrived late, but the performer had been developing for decades.