Kathy Sledge (born January 6, 1959) is an American singer–songwriter and producer. Sledge is best known as the youngest and founding member of
Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. ...
, an American vocal group which is made up of her sisters that formed in 1971.
[
After achieving success beginning the late–1970s thru the mid–1980s with Sister Sledge, Sledge embarked on her solo career in 1989. She has had several hits on the International Pop and ]Hot Dance Music/Club Play
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
, including " Take Me Back to Love Again", which hit #1 in 1992.
Biography
Early life and education
Born in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Sledge was the youngest child born to Edwin (1922–1996), a former Broadway star of dance-tap duo 'Fred and Sledge' and Florez (née Williams; 1928–2007). Her siblings are Norma Carol Blackmon, Debra, Joan and Kim Sledge. Sledges' grandmother Viola Williams was a opera singer. For high school, Sledge attended Olney High School
Olney Charter High School, formerly Aspira Charter School at Olney, and Olney High School, is a public high school located in the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Previously directly controlled by the School District of Philade ...
; graduating in 1977. After completing high school, Sledge continued her education at Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
;[ majoring in Recreational Opportunities for the disabled.
]
Career
Sledge along with her sisters formed Sister Sledge in 1971. Sledge performed the lead vocals on the two Top 10 US hits the group had on the Hot 100, "He's the Greatest Dancer
"He's the Greatest Dancer" is a 1979 song by the American vocal group Sister Sledge. Released on February 3, 1979, the song was written and composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and recorded for the group's successful 1979 album '' We ...
" and " We Are Family" which were released in 1979. Sledge left the group and embarked on a solo career in 1989. In 1992, Sledge released a solo album, ''Heart'', which peaked at #86 on the R&B charts. The album produced two singles, " Take Me Back to Love Again" (US R&B #24) and "All of My Love" (US R&B #57). Sledge collaborated with dance producer Robert Miles
Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children (composition), Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topp ...
on the dance/pop single "Freedom" 1997. She returned to the dance chart in 2001 as a featured vocalist for King Britt
King Britt (born 1968) is an American educator, DJ and record producer from Philadelphia.
Biography
Britt is a 1986 graduate of Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1987, he started working at Tower Records, as a buyer for th ...
's musical project Sylk 130 on the track "Rising".
In 2011, Sledge released a track called "Give Yourself Up" on Universal Records
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
, featuring Adam Barta
Adam Steven Barta (born September 21, 1979) is an American actor, reality star, and musician from the Bronx, New York. He has had four charting singles on the Billboard Dance Chart and is known for his duets and viral videos with Alana Thompson ...
, and produced by Mike Rizzo
Michael Rizzo, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer from New York City, active since the early 1990s. He is well known for working with various artists such as Jennifer Green and Sun, all of whom scored hits on both '' Billboard's Ho ...
and Mr. Mig, which hit Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Club Play Chart.[Slomowicz, Ron, (DJ)]
"Song of the Day: Kathy Sledge featuring Adam Barta - 'Give Yourself Up'"
''About.com Guide'', April 29, 2011 In September 2013, Sledge was the first signing of the new Pacific Electronic Music record label formed by Jerry L. Greenberg (former President of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
), Max Martire & Lenny Ibizarre. On September 25, 2013, Sledge received an "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the 16th DJ Awards
DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide.
Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retained the same et ...
at Pacha, Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
. and performed the new Aristofreeks remix of " We Are Family". The first release of the five remixes of " We Are Family" that she re-recorded with the Aristofreeks were released on November 11, 2013. Sledge also has a single together with the same group, "Keep It Moving" (2014), which went up to the No. 2 spot on the US Dance chart.
Personal life
Sledge has been married once and has two children. Sledge has been married to musician Philip Lightfoot since 1981 and together they have two children, Kristen (b. 1983) and Phillip Jr. (b. 1985). Kathy's life with her sisters, after their initial fame, was somewhat tumultuous. There is still a genuine love between the sisters. As she describes, "all families butt heads and while we fight, we still love each other."
Discography
Solo Artist
Albums
Singles
;As main artist
;As a featured artist
Filmography
* 1975, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1992: ''Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...
'' — Herself (5 episodes)
* 1979: ''American Bandstand
''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...
'' — Herself (1 episode)
* 1982: '' Fridays'' — Herself (1 episode)
* 1984: ''The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...
'' — Kathy Satin (1 episode)
* 1992: ''It's Showtime at the Apollo
English auxiliary verbs are a small set of English verbs, which include the English modal verbs and a few others. Although definitions vary, as generally conceived an auxiliary lacks inherent semantic meaning but instead modifies the meaning of an ...
'' — Herself (1 episode)
* 2000: ''100 Greatest Dance Songs of Rock & Roll'' — Herself
* 2006: ''Archive Footage:Be My Baby: The Girl Group Story'' — Herself (uncredited)
* 2008: ''Soul Power
"Soul Power" is a song by James Brown. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s (plus Fred Wesley) and it was released as a three-part single in 1971. Like "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and other hits from this period it features ...
'' — Herself with Sister Sledge (uncredited; 1974 concert series from the "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire)
See also
*List of number-one dance hits (United States)
This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by ''Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is c ...
*List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in t ...
References
External links
*
Kathy Sledge discography, album releases & credits
at Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sledge, Kathy
1959 births
Living people
American disco musicians
Musicians from Philadelphia
20th-century African-American women singers
Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Singers from Pennsylvania
African-American songwriters
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
Sister Sledge members