Legendary Soul Singer Percy Sledge Has Passed Away After A Long Battle With Cancer
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Legendary Soul Singer Percy Sledge Has Passed Away After A Long Battle With Cancer |
He was best known for recording the classic 1966 power ballad When a Man Loves a Woman.
The news was confirmed by his agent of 35 years, Steve Green, who said that the singer died after a long battle with liver cancer.
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"When A Man Loves A Women" (Percey Sledge) |
The Take Time To Know Her hitmaker was born in Leighton, Alabama on November 25, 1941.
Sledge's first recording took him from hospital orderly to a long touring career averaging 100 performances a year and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
He was also inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and was the inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Between 1966 and 1968, Sledge used his forlorn, crying vocal style to record a series of Southern soul standards.
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Percy Sledge And His Wife Rosa Sledge |
He had a long career that spanned over fifty years with his last album release being The Gospel Of Percy Sledge in 2013.
Sledge rose to fame as his debut single When A Man Loves A Woman became a No. 1 hit in 1966.
It was the first single to hit No. 1 from Alabama's Muscle Shoals music scene as Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones among many others recorded there. It was also the first gold record for Atlantic Records.
His biggest hit was popularized again in 1991, when Michael Bolton released a Grammy Award winning cover of the song.
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