Percy Sledge, Singer of ‘When a Man Loves a Woman,’ Dead at 73

The R&B vocalist reportedly died of natural causes on Tuesday morning

Getty Images

“When a Man Loves a Woman” singer Percy Sledge died in his Baton Rouge, Louisiana home on Tuesday morning. He was 73.

The Associated Press reports that East Baton Rouge Parish coroner Dr. William “Beau” Clark said Sledge died of natural causes around 1 a.m. while under hospice care.

“He was a wonderful guy in a terrible business,” Steve Green of Artists International Management, Inc. — the talent agency that represented Sledge — said in a statement to the media. “He was truly a standout.”

Sledge, a former nurse, rose to fame after recording “When a Man Loves a Woman” in 1966. Thursday marks the 49th anniversary of the release of the single, which climbed to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, as well as the Billboard R&B Chart, where it reigned for six weeks.

His second biggest U.S. hit was “Take Time to Know Her,” from the 1968 album of the same name. Other notable Sledge songs include “Warm and Tender Love,” “It Tears Me Up”, “Love Me Tender” and “Cover Me.”

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, Sledge received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s first Career Achievement Award in 1989.

Sledge is survived by his wife and children.

Comments