[9] A regular gospel singer in church, during the early 1970s Jones often entered talent shows backed by local funk bands.

Session work then continued with backing vocals, often credited to Lafaye Jones, but in the absence of any recording contract as a solo singer, she spent many years working as a corrections officer at Rikers Island and as an armored car guard for Wells Fargo, until receiving a mid-life career break in 1996 after she appeared on a session backing the soul and deep funk legend Lee Fields.

Having completed all the backing parts herself, Roth and Lehman were suitably impressed with her performance and recorded "Switchblade", a solo track with Jones.

From the original Soul Providers, Roth (also known as Bosco Mann) on bass, guitarist and emcee Binky Griptite, percussionist Fernando Velez, trumpet player Anda Szilagyi and organist Earl Maxton were joined by original Mighty Imperials saxophonist Leon Michels and drummer Homer Steinweiss, plus Neal Sugarman from Sugarman 3, to form The Dap-Kings.

[22] Jones had a small part in the 2007 film The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker, in which she played Lila, a juke joint singer.

[23] In 2015, a documentary titled Miss Sharon Jones!, directed by Barbara Kopple, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival.

[13] Amongst Jones' influences were James Brown, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Thom Bell, Otis Redding, Ike & Tina Turner, Marva Whitney and everyone from Motown.

[2] It was announced on June 3, 2013, that Jones had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer[32] and had undergone surgery, which forced her to postpone the release of the group's fifth album, Give the People What They Want.

[35][36] During the screening of her documentary at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival,[37] Jones revealed that her cancer had returned,[38] and that she would be undergoing chemotherapy again.

[40] Jones remained alert and lucid during the initial period of her hospital stay, claiming light-heartedly that the news of Donald Trump's victory was responsible for her stroke.