Percy Sledge

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Percy Sledge in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Percy Tyrone Sledge (born November 25, 1940 in Leighton , Alabama , † April 14, 2015 in Baton Rouge , Louisiana ) was an American rhythm and blues and soul singer. He achieved international fame with the song When a Man Loves a Woman in 1966.

Career

Percy Sledge worked in the fields of Leighton in his youth and later as a nursing assistant at Colbert County Hospital (now Helen Keller Hospital ) in Sheffield . The cradle of his musical career was a Leighton Baptist church , the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church . He was also a member of Jimmy Hughes's gospel group .

The singer celebrated successes especially in the second half of the 1960s with soulful love ballads between country and soul , which he performed with nasal intonation . In the mid-1960s he was out on the weekends with his group Esquires Combo in the southeastern United States and spent the week working in the hospital. A previous patient introduced Sledge to a friend, music producer Quin Ivy , who got Sledge a record deal with Atlantic Records after a test recording . Sledge's soft, haunting voice was perfect for a series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene that rock critic Dave Marsh once called "soulful classics for romantics of all ages."

When a Man Loves a Woman was his first recording, and it became not only an international hit in 1966 ( US # 1 , UK # 4, Federal Republic of Germany # 13), but also the first gold record for Atlantic Records. This major soul anthem was the cornerstone of Percy Sledge's career, and titles like Warm and Tender Love , Take Time to Know Her and Cover Me cemented his fame.

In the 1970s Sledge had success with titles such as I'll Be Your Everything and Sunshine and earned international fame, especially in the Netherlands, Germany and on the African continent. At the end of the 1980s, Sledge's classic When a Man Loves a Woman was again a hit parade due to its use in a jeans commercial and reached number 2 in the United Kingdom and 13th in the singles charts in Germany. In 2005, Percy Sledge was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . His song When A Man Loves A Woman is listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the list of "Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".

Sledge died of liver cancer on April 14, 2015, aged 74, at his Baton Rouge, Louisiana home .

Discography (selection)

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
AT AT US US
1966 When a Man Loves a Woman - US37 (21 weeks)
US
Warm & tender soul - US136 (3 weeks)
US
1967 The Percy Sledge Way - US178 (3 weeks)
US
1968 Take Time to Know Her - US148 (6 weeks)
US
1981 When a Man Loves a Woman (1981) AT6 (6 weeks)
AT 		-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1969 The Best of Percy Sledge - US133 (11 weeks)
US
1987 When a Man Loves a Woman (The Ultimate Collection) UK36 (4 weeks)
UK 		-

More compilations

  • 1973: Star Collection (DE:goldgold)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE CH CH UK UK US USTemplate: chart table / maintenance / charts non-existent
1966 When a Man Loves a Woman
When a Man Loves a Woman 		DE13 (13 weeks)
DE 		CH21 (6 weeks)
CH 		UK4th
silver
silver

(17 weeks)UK 		US1
gold
gold

(13 weeks)US
Sales: + 1,250,000
Warm And Tender Love
Warm & Tender Soul 		- - UK34 (7 weeks)
UK 		US17 (9 weeks)
US
It Tears Me Up
Warm & Tender Soul 		- - - US20 (11 weeks)
US
1967 Baby, Help Me
Take Time to Know Her 		- - - US87 (5 weeks)
US
Out of Left Field
Take Time to Know Her 		- - - US59 (7 weeks)
US
What Am I Living for?
The Percy Sledge Way 		- - - US91 (2 weeks)
US
Love Me Tender
Warm & Tender Soul 		- - - US40 (6 weeks)
US
Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)
The Percy Sledge Way 		- - - US66 (4 weeks)
US
1968 Cover Me
Take Time to Know Her 		- - - US42 (8 weeks)
US
Take Time to Know Her
Take Time to Know Her 		- - - US11 (14 weeks)
US
Sudden Stop
Take Time to Know Her 		- - - US63 (5 weeks)
US
1969 My Special Prayer
My Special Prayer 		- - - US93 (4 weeks)
US
Any Day Now
My Special Prayer 		- - - US86 (4 weeks)
US
1974 I'll Be Your Everything
I'll Be Your Everything 		- - - US62 (6 weeks)
US
1987 When a Man Loves a Woman (1987)
 - - UK2 (10 weeks)
UK 		-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Web links

Commons : Percy Sledge  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Joe Coscarelli: Percy Sledge, Smooth Wailer in 'When a Man Loves a Woman,' Is Dead at 74. In: The New York Times, April 14, 2015 (accessed April 15, 2015).
  2. ↑ Encyclopedia of Alabama.org: Percy Sledge ; viewed on February 13, 2019
  3. ^ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, ISBN 0-8230-7690-3 .
  4. ↑ a b everyhit.com, search mask, "Percy Sledge" ,
  5. ^ Taurus-Press, Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1956–1980, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 .
  6. ^ Taurus-Press, Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1981–1987, ISBN 3-922542-34-4 .
  7. ^ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Percy Sledge
  8. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
  9. ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  10. ↑ a b c Music Sales Awards: DE UK US
personal data
SURNAME Sledge, Percy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sledge, Percy Tyrone (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American R&B and soul singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Leighton , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH April 14, 2015
Place of death Baton Rouge , Louisiana