Percy Sledge(1940-2015)
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Alabama-born Percy Sledge had a somewhat unusual introduction to the
music business. Working as an orderly in a local hospital, he was
touring with a local band called the Esquires Combo on weekends and
working at the hospital during the week. A former patient at the
hospital who knew both Sledge and local record producer Quin Ivy
introduced them to each other. Ivy was impressed with Sledge's
emotional style of singing and signed him to a recording contract.
Sledge hit it big with his first record, the classic "When a Man Loves
a Woman", released by Atlantic Records, which went on to become a
worldwide hit (and, incidentally, the first Atlantic record to go
gold). Although Sledge never had another hit as big as "When a Man
Loves a Woman," he did manage to place several follow-up records on the
charts. He still tours today, and has an especially large following in
Europe.
