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Soul singer Percy Sledge passes away

Soul singer Percy Sledge passes away

THE American soul singer Percy Sledge has passed away at the age of 74.

He will be best remembered for his hit When A Man Loves A Woman (see below) which shot him to fame on both sides of the Atlantic in 1966.

Mr. Sledge later revealed that he had originally come up with the melody for the song, which landed Atlantic Records their first gold disc, when he was working as a cotton picker in Alabama.

He was working as a hospital nurse when he finally got the chance to record the song in the Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, where a number of groups and performers, including The Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin, would later record.

But while he had come up with the melody, the lyrics were created by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright. Mr. Sledge later revealed that he had signed over the rights to the hit to Lewis and Wright, admitting he “just wasn’t thinking”.

The song was to remain Mr. Sledge’s best-known recording and was a favourite with fans across the world during his many tours.

The recording charted again in the UK in 1987 after it was used in the soundtrack of the movie Platoon as well as in a TV ad for Levis.

He toured extensively over the years, performing as many as 100 concerts each year. Even after recovering from surgery for liver cancer in January 2014 he went back on the road.

Mr. Sledge, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, passed away at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

View footage of Percy Sledge performing When A Man Loves A Woman .

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