Soul legend Percy Sledge dies

Soul singer Percy Sledge has died aged 73 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His career began in the 1960s with a string of hit singles, but they were all eclipsed by his biggest hit ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ backed the legendary Muscle Shoals players who made countless hit r&b records. It made US No.1 in May 1966.

Sledge was born in Alabama and used to chop and pick cotton, where he sang the melody out in the fields. In 2013 he made an appearance in a documentary film about the Muscle Shoals musicians and explained how nervous he was bringing it from the fields into their studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It was the first US number one to emerge from Muscle Shoals studio, which later made some of the biggest hits of Aretha Franklin and played host to The Rolling Stones.

Unfortunately Sledge never received the songwriting royalties. "Worst decision I ever made. But I am not at all bitter. I figure if God wanted me to do what I did, and say what I did to tell those guys they could have the song, then I'll leave it that away," he told Blues and Soul magazine.

Sledge had been suffering from cancer but continued touring last year. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.