BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Debbie, Kim, Joni and Kathy Sledge sang in church before conquering the charts in the 70s and 80s with Grammy-winning disco classics. But as disco died, so did their careers.
Siblings Debbie, Kim, Joni, and Kathy Sledge - collectively Sister Sledge - began singing at an early age at the Williams Tempe C.M.E. church in their hometown of Philadelphia.
Grandmother Viola Williams (a former opera singer) had the girls performing at charities, civic and political affairs and other philanthropic events under the name 'Mrs. William's Grandchildren'.
Since the 1979 release of their breakthrough album ‘We Are Family’, this remarkable group has continued to develop and expand their diverse talents, and has received over one hundred awards and commendations for outstanding work in the entertainment field.
Sister Sledge are established as one of the world's most successful female groups. The album, ‘We Are Family’ soared past the RIAA Platinum mark, reaching the top of both Pop and R&B charts.
In the 1980's, the world witnessed the full flowering of four college graduates, with subsequent hits, ‘Lost in Music’, ‘Love Somebody Today’, ‘Reach Your Peak’ and the international Gold Record, ‘Frankie’.
In the following years they sold millions of records worldwide, and travelled extensively in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Australia and the United States, earning rave reviews.
Despite the odd line-up change, Sister Sledge continue to tour and make music together.
Sister Sledge is an American musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1971 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge (born August 21, 1957), Debbie Sledge (born July 9, 1954), Joni Sledge (born September 13, 1956), and Kathy Sledge (born January 6, 1959). They are granddaughters of the former opera singer Viola Williams. The sisters used to perform under the name of "Mrs. Williams' Grandchildren". The group is best known for their hit songs "We Are Family", "He's the Greatest Dancer", and "Frankie".
History
The members of Sister Sledge were born and raised in Philadelphia and began singing in local Philadelphia churches like Williams Temple CME and Second Macedonia Baptist Church. Their professional music career launched when they entered the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with "Mama Never Told Me". The young girl group released their first two albums, Circle of Love and Together in 1975 and 1977, respectively but, aside from scoring the Silver Prize at the 1975 Tokyo Musical for Haras Fyre's composition "Pain Reliever" and Haras' oft-recorded "Love Don't You Go Through No Changes on Me," there were no major hits.
The group attained pop success with their next album: 1979's We Are Family. The album would become the group's best selling. Singles included "He's the Greatest Dancer" (#9 US, #1 R&B) and "We Are Family" (#2 US, #1 R&B), the latter song becoming their biggest hit. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group Chic.
Sister Sledge's next album was 1980's Love Somebody Today. The album included the songs "Got to Love Somebody" (#64 US, #6 R&B, #34 UK) and "Pretty Baby".
Collaborating with producer Narada Michael Walden in 1981, they released the album "All-American Girls", yielding the title track single, which reached No. 3 R&B and No. 79 Pop in the U.S. and No. 41 Pop in the UK; and the single "Next Time You'll Know", which reached No. 28 R&B in the U.S. The sisters continued singing new material throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although not matching the success of the late 1970s. They achieved a hit with "FrankieHeart. Although it spawned no Hot 100 hits, it included the #1 Dance Chart hit "Take Me Back to Love". Sister Sledge co-produced recorded the album "African Eyes" in 1998 which was nominated for a Grammy as best produced CD, as well as the Live in Concert album in 1997. In 2003, Debbi and Joni performed with three other female singers which included Debbie's daughters Amber and Camille in the PBS special, My Music: 70's Soul Superstars, which is also available on DVD.
" in 1985 (#1 in the UK). In 1989 Kathy Sledge left the group to pursue her solo career and in 1992 recorded her first solo album,
Their most popular songs have been re-released and re-recorded several times in Europe, often in newly-remixed versions. Their song "Il Macquillage Lady" is believe to be sampled for French electronic duo Daft Punk's 2001 track Aerodynamic although Daft Punk have denied sampling the song.
The sisters continue to perform collectively and individually worldwide. The four original group members were reunited in 2011 on Oprah Winfrey's "Women Who Rock" episode, highlighting their song "We Are Family" as one of the most requested songs of all time.
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