Editing Percy Sledge (section)

===Early career===
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in [[Leighton, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite web|title=PERCY SLEDGE Alabama Black History Month|url=http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf?%2Fspecialreport%2Fblackhistory%2Fsledge.html|website=Alabama Local News|access-date=6 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203114209/http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf?%2Fspecialreport%2Fblackhistory%2Fsledge.html|archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Percy Sledge|url=http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/personalities-music-legends-percy-sledge.html|website=Museum of the Gulf Coast|access-date=6 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426050306/http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/personalities-music-legends-percy-sledge.html|archive-date=26 April 2012}}</ref> He worked in a series of [[agriculture|agricultural]] jobs in the fields near Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at [[Colbert County, Alabama|Colbert County]] Hospital in [[Sheffield, Alabama]]. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the [[Southeastern United States|Southeast]] with the ''Esquires Combo'' on weekends,<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and [[record producer]] [[Quin Ivy]] introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.<ref name="lmhof">{{cite web|publisher=Louisiana Music Hall of Fame|first=Tom|last=Aswell|title=Louisiana Music Hall of Fame - Percy Sledge - 2007|url=http://louisianamusichalloffame.org/content/view/31/91/|access-date=February 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814072603/http://louisianamusichalloffame.org/content/view/31/91/|archive-date=August 14, 2011}}.</ref>

[[File:Percy Sledge 1974 touring.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Sledge performing on tour in 1974]]
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul [[Ballad (music)|ballad]]s produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic [[Dave Marsh]] called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "[[When a Man Loves a Woman (song)|When a Man Loves a Woman]]" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/percy-sledge-sang-man-loves-woman-dies-30308566|title=Percy Sledge, Who Sang 'When a Man Loves a Woman,' Dies|newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|access-date=April 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415162214/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/percy-sledge-sang-man-loves-woman-dies-30308566|archive-date=April 15, 2015}}</ref> and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them.<ref name="rock hall"/> It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by [[Atlantic Records]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/213 213]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/213}}</ref> The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer [[Elkie Brooks]] in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "[[Take Time to Know Her (song)|Take Time to Know Her]]" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "[[Love Me Tender (song)|Love Me Tender]]", and "Cover Me".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/><ref name="rock hall">{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/percy-sledge|title=Percy Sledge|website=Rockhall.com|access-date=February 3, 2010}}</ref>

Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the [[Netherlands]], [[Germany]], and on the [[Africa|African continent]]; he averaged 100 concerts a year in [[apartheid]]-era [[South Africa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3032209|title=Percy Sledge, When a Man Loves a Woman singer, dead at 74|website=[[CBC News]]|access-date=April 14, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429123302/http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.3032209|archive-date=April 29, 2015}}</ref><ref name="bbcdeath">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32301435|title=Soul singer Percy Sledge dies aged 74|date=April 14, 2015 |publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=April 14, 2015}}</ref>