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 was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, 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. As a member of the group, Sledge sang lead on their biggest hits "

He's the Greatest Dancer "He's the Greatest Dancer" is a disco 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 A ...

" and " We Are Family"; the latter of which received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

in 1980. After achieving success beginning the late–1970s through 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 The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, 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 repres ...

, including " Take Me Back to Love Again", which hit #1 in 1992.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 an opera singer. For high school, Sledge attended

Olney High School The Olney Charter High School, formerly the Aspira Charter School at Olney, and Olney High School, is a public high school that is located in the Olney section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Previously part of the School District of Philadelph ...

; graduating in 1977. After completing high school, Sledge continued her education at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

; 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, "

" 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 worldwid ...

on the dance/pop single "Freedom" in 1997. She returned to the dance chart in 2001 as a featured vocalist for

King Britt King Britt (born 1968) is an American record producer, composer, performer, educator, and DJ and record producer from Philadelphia. Britt is known for his eclectic mix of electronic, house, disco, techno, rave, experimental music, and other gen ...

'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 Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, 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 (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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

), 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 Disc jockey, DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retaine ...

at Pacha,

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

. 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 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. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...

'' — Herself (5 episodes) * 1979: ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, 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 auxiliary verbs and a few others. Although the auxiliary verbs of English are widely believed to lack inherent semantic meaning and instead to modify the ...

'' — 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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sledge, Kathy 1959 births Living people American disco musicians Singers from Philadelphia 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Songwriters from Pennsylvania African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women Sister Sledge members