In the battle between my post 2000 favorite female vocalist, top spot consideration meandered between Alicia Keys and Sharon Jones.

I've always leaned towards power belters. Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan charge ahead in that department.

You won't be surprised then that Sharon Jones comes out on top as my last twenty-year female vocalist favorite. She has a style all her own, and an emotional story of success to match.

The horn arrangements in her songs are not Motown-Detroit and are not quite Stax-Memphis. The Dap-Kings band gives her music a special quality that echoes a signature of uniqueness.

This remixed cover for the record 100 Days, 100 Nights is a throwback to 2007 when the album was released.

Take a look at the original cover in my article: Retro-Soul Makes a Mighty Comeback.

Here's a deeper look at Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings in the Sharon Jones Biography written by Mark Deming.

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"Few artists took longer to reach stardom, and gained as much critical acclaim once they found their audience, than R&B vocalist Sharon Jones.

"Born in 1956, Jones had been singing in clubs since the early '70s without much success until she was recognized by a producer who paired her with her band the Dap-Kings in the late '90s.

"Once she finally broke through, Jones became celebrated for her strong, emotive voice and phrasing that was powerful without showboating.

"At her best, Jones could evoke the sound of classic soul and R&B of the '60s and '70s while summoning an energy and confidence that made her performances feel fresh and contemporary.

"2002's Dap Dippin' with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings was the debut album that introduced her talent to the world, 2010's I Learned the Hard Way documented Jones and her band at the peak of their powers, and 2017's Soul of a Woman found Jones singing at the top of her game, even while fighting cancer.

"Sharon Jones was born in Augusta, Georgia on May 4, 1956. She was the youngest of six siblings.

"In 2013, Jones revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer -- initially in the bile ducts, and later advanced to stage two pancreatic cancer -- but she continued to perform as often as her therapy schedule would permit, sometimes appearing on-stage with a bald head after chemotherapy caused her to lose her hair.

"In late 2013, Jones was well enough to complete work on the next Dap-Kings album, and Give the People What They Want appeared in January 2014; it earned a Grammy nomination as Best R&B album.

"Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple premiered a movie about the vocalist, Miss Sharon Jones!, at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

"Jones was in attendance for the debut screening, and revealed that her cancer had returned, but defiantly added, "I'm gonna keep fighting, we got a long way to go.

"Sadly, she would lose her valiant battle with cancer, which took her life, at age 60, in November 2016.

"Shortly before her death, Jones completed vocals for a final album with the Dap-Kings. That album, Soul of a Woman, was released in November 2017.

"A collection of covers Jones had recorded with the Dap-Kings through their years together, Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Rendition Was In, appeared in January 2021."

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Listen to the Sharon Jones spin on "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." It's less bluesy than typical Sharon Jones approaches but it is a deserving interpretation of a Stevie Wonder Motown classic!

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