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Percy Sledge poses for a publicity portrait at the start of his career in the mid-sixties. Photograph: Everett/ Rex

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Percy Sledge, American icon of soul and R & B, known for his successful version of the classic Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright When a Man Loves a Woman, died at age 74 in Louisiana, United States. Percy Sledge was born in Alabama, United States when he was very young had worked in the fields in Leighton before after that he worked as a laborer in Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield. In the mid-1960s, Sledge But once I agreed to go on weekends trip to Southeast with the Esquires Combo band and work in the hospital during the week. A former patient who was a friend of producer Quin Ivy introduced them both, she auditioned and then Sledge was signed to a recording contract.

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Sledge, fellow singer Jimmy Hughes and Sledges producer Quin Ivy meet Redwal music founders Phil Walden and Alan Walden in Macon, Georgia, 1966 Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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A publicity portrait of Percy Sledge at the height of his fame in New York, 1966. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Don Covay, Atlantic records founder Ahmet Ertegun, Anita Wexler, daughter of Jerry Wexler, Otis Redding, and Percy Sledge at Atlantic Records party in 1966 Photograph: Charlie Gillett Collection/Redferns/ Getty Images

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Courtesy of Alabama Music Hall of Fame Leighton native Percy Sledge in an early photo. One of his biggest hits, "When A Man Loves A Woman," recorded in Muscle Shoals, was a nationwide hit.

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A portrait of Percy Sledge in the mid-1970s Photograph: Echoes/Redferns/ Getty Images

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Sledge performing on tour in 1974

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Photo by Matt McKean Early disc of one of Leighton native Percy Sledge's biggest hits, "When A Man Loves A Woman." Recorded in Muscle Shoals, the song became a nationwide hit.

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A print advertisement for one of Sledges 1968 hit Take Time to Know Her. Photograph: Granamour Weems Collection /Alamy

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Percy Sledge performs a duet with Michael Bolton during the formers television special This is Michael Bolton in 1992. Bolton scored a number one hit with Sledges When a Man Loves a Woman in 1991. Photograph: Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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Percy Sledge with his wife Rosa Sledge

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Photo by Jim Hannon. Percy Sledge performs during a Handy Music Blast concert at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

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Percy Sledge playing pool at home in 1995. Photograph: Thomas S England/ Time Life /Getty Images

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Photo by Daniel Giles Percy Sledge at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, prior to the Saturday Night at the Oldies concert in 1998.

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Percy Sledge appears onstage at the 20th Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York, 2005. Photograph: Scott Gries/Getty Images

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Julie Jacobson/Associated Press Percy Sledge accepts his award during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony March 14, 2005 in New York.

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Quin Ivy and Percy Sledge stand across the street from the studio building where the hit song When a Man Loves a Woman was recorded. A marker honoring Sledge and Ivy was unveiled last year at the Second Street, Sheffield, location. Jim Hannon/TimesDaily

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Percy Sledge performs on stage during music festival Jazz an der Donau in Straubing, Germany, 2008 Photograph: dpa /Alamy

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Photo by Jim Hannon Recording artist Percy Sledge checks out an audio room at Noiseblock Studio in Florence where he was working with local musicians on a new album of songs in 2011.

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Photo by Allison Carter Percy Sledge performs in 2013 at An Evening with the Legendary Percy Sledge and Friends in Florence. Sledge performed songs from his new album "The Gospel of Percy Sledge." In addition to Sledge's performance Travis Wammack and the Snake Man Band, Aaron Wilburn and William Lee Golden performed.

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Photo by Allison Carter Tina Caruso, left, smiles as Percy Sledge signs a poster for her in 2013. Sledge was in Florence to perform at An Evening with the Legendary Percy Sledge and Friends. Sledge performed songs from his new album "The Gospel of Percy Sledge." In addition to Sledge's performance Travis Wammack and the Snake Man Band, Aaron Wilburn and William Lee Golden performed.

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Photo by Daniel Giles

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