NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” a desperate, soulful ode to the lengths a man will go to for the woman he loves, was his only big hit but it had staying power. When he stepped into a recording studio in 1966 he unleashed a haunting wail of loss and love that continues to touch listeners nearly 50 years later.
The song launched the former Alabama hospital orderly to fame, became a staple in movies and television and was the last tune he sang at concerts.
Aware of the song’s significance, he rarely sang it as a duet, said manager Mark Lyman, who worked with Sledge for roughly 20 years. Lyman recalled another artist once called to ask if Sledge would sing it with her. Sledge told Lyman, “Now Mark, you know that’s my song.”
The only exception Lyman remembers was a duet with Michael Bolton, whose cover of the song won him a Grammy in 1991.
Sledge died Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at age 74. His family said in a statement released through Lyman that he died “peacefully” at his home after a yearlong struggle with cancer. The cause of death was liver failure, Lyman said. The coroner for East Baton Rouge Parish also confirmed the death.