Percy Sledge Passes Away at 74

R&B singer Percy Sledge passed away in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, Tuesday morning at the age of 74 after a battle with liver cancer.

Born in Leighton, Alabama, Sledge held a number of odd jobs around town before pursuing a career in music. He was best known for his debut single and biggest hit “When a Man Loves a Woman,” which topped the Billboard pop chart for 13 weeks in 1966 and was the first number one record to come out of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. That song would both launch the Muscle Shoals movement as well as Sledge’s career, and was eventually covered by artists like Bette Midler and Michael Bolton.

Sledge went on to add many more hits to his repertoire, including “Sunshine,” “Warm and Tender Love” and “I’ll Be Your Everything.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

He leaves behind a wife and children.