Musician left mark on region
After entertaining the region and the world for more than five decades, local musical legend Mickey Sharp, 72, died Wednesday at the Uniontown Hospital. Sharp’s daughter, Erin Jenkins of Adah, said her dad began playing drums professionally at the age of 4 and never looked back, performing worldwide for half a century.
“He lived his life through music,” Jenkins said Thursday. “He just gave joy to everyone.”
Local talent George Silvers heard Sharp play the drums at his Hopwood home when Sharp was a mere 5 years old and was immediately impressed with his talent.
Silvers arranged an audition for Sharp in Atlantic City with Count Basie at the age of 10 and Sharp never looked back.
After the audition, Sharp returned to Uniontown and began playing at social clubs and community events.
“He took advantage of every day and he was a very fun person to be around. People just gravitated to his electric personality,” Jenkins said.
Following his graduation from Uniontown High School in 1953, Sharp did the casino circuit in Las Vegas before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1957 where he won the world championship of the best acts in the U.S. Air Force, besting his competition in several events culminating in Frankfurt, Germany.
After his victory, the military sent Sharp on a worldwide tour for two years performing for the troops and joining the Bob Hope Show for several performances.
Sharp also performed at the 1958 World’s Fair in Belgium and for the Queen of England.
An established drummer in his early career, Sharp soon adopted the piano as his instrument of choice and was also a successful organist, Jenkins said.
She said while her father traveled and toured most of his life, there was never a two-day span he didn’t communicate with his family, something Jenkins said made Sharp just as big a hit at home as he was to his audiences.
Jenkins said her father opened many area businesses like the Uniontown Holiday Inn and the Morgantown Mall in West Virginia and had become a New Year’s Eve staple on the local scene, performing for decades on area stages to ring in the New Year.
“If he met you once, he remembered your name for a lifetime,” Jenkins said. “He was a genuine friend and he gave the people around him the gift of laughter.”
Sharp’s wife, Lolita Sharp, and four children survive him.
The John S. Maykuth Jr. Funeral Home in Masontown is handling funeral arrangements for Sharp.