Percy Sledge, singer of When A Man Loves A Woman, dies at 73
Legendary soul singer Percy Sledge has passed away at the age of 73.
He was best known for recording the classic 1966 power ballad When a Man Loves a Woman.
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Coroner Dr. William 'Beau' Clark confirmed to The Associated Press that Sledge died early Tuesday morning.
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Legend: Percy Sledge passed away at the age of 73 in Baton Rouge. Louisiana
The news was also confirmed to ABC News by his agent of 35 years, Steve Green, who said that the singer died after a long battle with cancer.
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.
Signature song: The crooner was best known for his 1966 hit When A Man Loves A Woman, which hit No. 1
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.
In later years, Sledge continued to be an in-demand performer in the United States and Europe as When a Man Loves a Woman kept popping up in movies, including The Big Chill and The Crying Game.
Storied career: Sledge - pictured at the New York premiere of Muscle Shoals in September 2013 - had a career that spanned over fifty years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005
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 popularised again in 1991, when Michael Bolton released a Grammy Award winning cover of the song.
Bringing it back: Michael Bolton - pictured at the SNL 40th Anniversary Special in New York in February - re-popularised Sledge's biggest hit as he released a Grammy Award winning cover of the song in 1991
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3038599/Percy-Sledge-sang-When-A-Man-Loves-Woman-dies.html#ixzz3XJa77F8Q
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