Sharon Jones, who started her international career as a gospel singer at her church, has died at the age of 60.

Jones's representative, Judy Miller Silverman, said the singer died in hospital in Cooperstown, New York, on Friday after suffering pancreatic cancer.

She was surrounded by loved ones and members of her retro-soul band, the Dap-Kings, Ms Silverman said.

The stout powerhouse shepherded a soul revival despite not finding stardom until middle age.

She learned her trade by performing at her Baptist church in Brooklyn, New York, after her family moved there to escape her abusive father.

Jones had been suffering from cancer for many years and despite going into remission in 2015 she announced its return late last year.

Nevertheless, she mounted another comeback with the defiant single I'm Still Here and hit the road again this summer with the Dap-Kings even while undergoing chemotherapy.

"You got to be brave," a debilitated Jones told the Associated Press in July, in between tour stops. "I want to use the time that I have. I don't want to spend it all laid up, wishing I had done that gig."

"It's therapy," she said of performing in July. "I know I need rest and sleep. But I want to work and that is our job."