Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, via WikipediaR&B singer Percy Sledge died this morning in his home in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, at the age of 73. Louisiana's KATC reports that he died of natural causes while in hospice care. Sledge was best known for his 1966 song "When a Man Loves a Woman," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and soundtracked countless moments of romance everywhere. The song reappeared atop the chart in the form a 1991 Michael Bolton cover. KATC notes that this Thursday will be the 49th anniversary of the song's release.Sledge, a former Alabama hospital orderly who signed a deal with Atlantic Records, had more than a dozen other Billboard chart hits, including "Warm and Tender Love," "Take Time to Know Her," and "It Tears Me Up." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and he was also inducted into the into the Delta Music and Louisiana Music Halls of Fame. He was the recipient of a Blues Music Award and a Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award.More importantly, though, Percy Sledge was a singular voice, someone whose singing seemed to be ripped straight from some primal emotional place. He channeled a profound sense of feeling, to the point that "When a Man Loves a Woman" has taken on an almost parodic place in culture—for most people, any attempt at that kind of rawness would quickly fall into melodrama. In Sledge's hands, it's pure truth. That, of course, is why the song has resonated so long: "When a Man Loves a Woman" is obvious, but the best things are always obvious. It's good enough to be the song. It's a country song and a soul song. It's a love song and a song about people deluded by love songs.In college, my friend and I had a radio show called The Family Planning Hour where we played slow jams and sex jams and old soul cuts. We played Tank songs and Luther Vandross songs and Marvin Gaye songs. Many of them were classic. All of them were smooth as hell. But we always came back to Percy Sledge because how could we not? He figured out the love song so purely that you knew exactly how he felt.Follow Kyle Kramer on Twitter.
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