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. I ...

, 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 Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

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 t ...

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 ...

, 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. Since ...

, 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 calle ...

; 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" 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" sold more than 5 million copies and topped the charts worldwide. ...

on the dance/pop single "Freedom" 1997. She returned to the dance chart in 2001 as a featured vocalist for King Britt'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, and produced by Mike Rizzo 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 Jerry L. Greenberg is an American music executive, who at 32, was the youngest president of any major record company in the recording industry and received that title in 1974 as President of Atlantic Records. He started his career in the music ...

(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 im ...

), 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 la ...

. 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 ...

'' — 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 pr ...

'' — 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 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history, ...

'' — 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'' — Herself with Sister Sledge (uncredited; 1974 concert series from the "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire)

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 ...

* {{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