Percy Sledge, singer of 'When A Man Loves A Woman,' dies at 73

Percy Sledge, whose soulful voice turned “When A Man Loves A Woman” into one of pop music’s most enduring anthems, has died. He was 73.

Longtime friend David Johnson confirmed to The Times Daily that the Muscle Shoals music icon died at his Baton Rogue, Louisiana home. His agent, Steve Green, told ABC News that Sledge died after a long battle with cancer.

“When A Man Loves A Woman” was the Alabama native’s first single and was recorded in Sheffield, Alabama. The song, according to his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography, started out as an improvisation performed at a University of Mississippi frat party. Even though he came up with the words, he let the song be credited to bassist Cameron Lewis and organist Andrew Wright, who helped him make the arrangements.

The song defined his sound and many of the tracks found on his Atlantic albums throughout the rest of the 1960s. During those years, his other hits included “Warm And Tender Love,” “Out of Left Field” and “Take Time To Know Her.”

Sledge continued recording and performing, even releasing an album in 2013 called The Gospel of Percy Sledge. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s first career achievement award in 1989.