If you are a fan of soul and disco music, you might have wondered if Percy Sledge and Sister Sledge are related. After all, they share the same surname and both achieved international fame in the 1960s and 1970s with their iconic songs. However, the truth is that Percy Sledge and Sister Sledge are not related by blood or marriage. They are just two musical acts that happen to have the same last name. Here is how they came to be known as Sledge.
Percy Sledge: The Soul Legend
Percy Tyrone Sledge was born in 1940 in Leighton, Alabama. He worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, while singing on weekends with a local band called the Esquires Combo. In 1966, he recorded his first song, “When a Man Loves a Woman”, which became a number one hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records and earned him a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Percy Sledge continued to record soulful ballads throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as “Warm and Tender Love”, “It Tears Me Up”, “Take Time to Know Her”, and “Cover Me”. He also had success in other countries, especially in the UK, where he had several top 10 hits. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Career Achievement Award. He died in 2015 at the age of 74.
According to Wikipedia, Sledge’s surname is of English origin and means “a heavy hammer”. He inherited it from his father, Edwin Sledge, who was a Broadway tap dancer.
Sister Sledge: The Disco Divas
Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of four sisters: Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The sisters were given vocal training by their grandmother, Viola Williams, who was a former opera singer and protégé of civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune.
Sister Sledge achieved international success at the height of the disco era in 1979, when they released their breakthrough album We Are Family, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. The album included two US top 10 singles: “He’s the Greatest Dancer” and “We Are Family”. The latter song became their signature anthem and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It was also entered into the Library of Congress in 2017.
Sister Sledge continued to record disco and soul songs in the 1980s and 1990s, such as “Lost in Music”, “Thinking of You”, “My Guy”, and “Frankie”. They also performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, such as Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Royal Albert Hall, and Glastonbury Festival. They even performed for Pope Francis at the World Festival of Families in Philadelphia in 2015.
According to their official website, Sister Sledge’s surname is also of English origin and means “a small wood”. They inherited it from their mother, Florez Sledge (née Williams), who was an actress.
Conclusion
Percy Sledge and Sister Sledge are not related by blood or marriage. They are just two musical acts that happen to have the same last name. However, they both share a common heritage of English ancestry and a passion for soulful music that has touched millions of hearts around the world.