New York, NY (Top40 Charts) US soul singer Percy Sledge, famed for his song When a Man Loves a Woman, has died aged 74. Sledge had surgery for liver cancer in January 2014 but soon resumed touring.
Biogrpahy:
Percy Sledge (November 25, 1940 - April 14, 2015) was an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the single "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966, an international top 40 hit that the RIAA has certified as gold. Having previously worked as a hospital nurse in the early 60s, he achieved his best success in the mid to late 60s and early 70s with a series of emotional soul songs, in his later years receiving the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award.
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940 in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton,
Alabama before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the song's inspiration came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached #1 in the U.S. and went on to become an international hit. "
When A Man Loves A Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching #4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at #2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It
Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest U.S. hit, reaching #11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "
I'll Be Your Everything" and "
Ain't No Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #2 behind the reissued Ben E King classic "Stand by Me," after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s,
Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for
Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured
Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, The Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective The Atlantic Recordings which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the US (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment.) In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir
Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton
Rouge on April 14, 2015. He was 74.
Sledge was an inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
In 1996, he was the recipient of the Blues
Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
In November 2004,
Percy Sledge was inducted into the Carolina Beach
Music Hall Of Fame.
In 2005, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In May 2007,
Percy Sledge was inducted into the Louisiana
Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the
State of Louisiana.
Sledge was an inductee of the Delta
Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Sledge was an inductee into the
Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
Discography:
1966 - When a Man Loves a Woman
1966 - Warm & Tender Soul
1967 - The
Percy Sledge Way
1968 - Take Time to Know Her
1968 - The Best of Percy Sledge
1974 - I'll Be Your Everything
1994 - Blue Night Sky
2004 - Shining Through the Rain
2013 - The Gospel of Percy Sledge
