Remembering Sharon Jones With ‘8 Days (Of Hanukkah)’
Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images
By Talya Zax November 21, 2016
Soul singer Sharon Jones, whose work with the band the Dap-Kings earned her a Grammy nomination in 2014, passed away on Friday. She had battled pancreatic cancer since 2013, a period chronicled by Barbara Kopple in the documentary “Miss Sharon Jones!”
Jones was known for her extraordinary energy as a performer, a quality that proved compelling as, with the Dap-Kings, she worked to reinvigorate the spirit of funk and soul music from its heyday in the 1960s and 70s. Remember her with their song “8 Days (of Hanukkah),” which was included on the band’s 2015 album “It’s a Holiday Soul Party.”
“8 days of Hanukkah,” Jones sings on the track, “every one of them glows with love.” For fans of all faiths, her music will carry that glow forward.
Talya Zax is the Forward’s culture fellow. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
