R.I.P. Joni Sledge of Sister Sledge 1957-2017 - Noise11.com
Sister Sledge, Noise11, Photo

Sister Sledge

R.I.P. Joni Sledge of Sister Sledge 1957-2017

by Roger Wink, VVN Music on March 13, 2017

in News

Joni Sledge, one of four sisters who made up Sister Sledge, has died at the age of 60. She was found unresponsive at her home. No cause of death has been announced.

The family released a statement on social media:

Important Announcement:

Yesterday, numbness fell upon our family. We are saddened to inform you that our dear sister, mother, aunt, niece and cousin, Joni passed away yesterday. Please pray for us as we weep for this loss. We do know that she is now eternally with Our Lord.

We thank you in advance for allowing us the privacy to mourn quietly as a family. We miss her and hurt for her presence, her radiance, and the sincerity with which she loved & embraced life.

We love you & God Bless You all.

The Sledge Family

Joni Sledge was the second child of Broadway tap dancer Edwin Sledge and actress Florez Sledge. She and her three sisters, Debbie (born 1954), Kim (1957) and Kathy (1959), learned to sing from their grandmother, Viola Williams, who was a lyric soprano opera singer. They originally performed at their church and as “Mrs. Williams’ Grandchildren” before branching out in the late 60’s to perform along the east coast with their mother as their manager.

In 1971, the sisters released their first single, Time Will Tell, on the Money Back label. Two more singles came out before they first charted with Love Don’t You Go Through No Changes on Me (1974 / #92 Pop / #31 R&B / #5 Dance). They followed the next year with the number 7 Dance hit Protect Our Love / Pain Reliever and a U.K. top twenty hit with their 1973 single Mama Never Told Me but they would have little luck with future releases until 1979.

It was at that time that their label, Atco, had them work with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic who produced their album We Are Family, their first to hit the Billboard 200, going all the way to number 3 and number 1 on the R&B Albums. The album included the group’s biggest hits, He’s the Greatest Dancer (1979 / #9 Pop / #1 R&B) and We Are Family (1979 / #2 Pop / #1 R&B).

Rodgers and Edwards also produced their follow-up, Love Somebody Today (1980 / #31 / #7 R&B), which included Got to Love Somebody (1979 / #64 Pop / #6 R&B) but, for their fifth album, they brought in Narda Michael Waldren to change their sound with the fall of disco. All American Girls (1981 / #42 / #13 R&B) had one major hit, the title track, which peaked at number 3 on the R&B singles.

While the group’s star started to falter in the U.S., they hit a brand new high in the U.K. with two singles, Lost in the Music (1984 / #4 U.K.) and the chart-topping Frankie (1985 / #1 U.K.). Their final major hit, once again in the U.K., came in 1993 when a remix of We Are Family by Sure is Pure reached number 5.

By the time of the remix hit, Kathy had left the group and Debbi, Joni and Kim continued with Joni taking a more central role, writing the song Brother, Brother Stop after she witnessed a shooting and taking on producing duties on the now trio’s 1997 album Africa.

vvnmusic.com

Related Posts

Foreigner Premiere Previously Unreleased ‘4’ Track ‘Fool If You Love Him Ahead of Box Set Release

Foreigner have premiered the previously unreleased ‘Fool If You Love Him’, a song recorded but not used on the ‘4’ album.

20 hours ago
Supertramp Crime of the Century
Two Supertramp Classics Remastered for 50th Anniversary

Supertramp’s 1974 classic ‘Crime of the Century’ and 1975 classic ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ have been remastered to mark the 50th anniversary of the released.

20 hours ago
Cold Chisel The Big Five O Live
Cold Chisel To Release Live DVD/Blu-Ray From Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Cold Chisel’s ‘The Big Five-O Live’ show, recently broadcast of television, will be available on CD, vinyl, DVD and Blu-Ray in August.

2 days ago
Phil Manning of Chain
Phil Manning and Warren Morgan Team Up For Exclusive Melbourne Show

Phil Manning of Chain and Warren Morgan of The Aztecs and also Chain will get together in Melbourne this Saturday night for a one-off performance.

3 days ago
Foreigner debut album 1977
Lou Gramm Reclaims The Songs Of Foreigner With Live Show

With Foreigner not being or sounding like Foreigner for years, original lead singer Lou Gramm is reclaiming lost ground with his almost all-Foreigner setlist.

4 days ago
Billy Joel at the MCG 10 December 2022 photo by Bron Robinson 2
The Billy Joel Documentary ‘And So It Goes’ Release Date HBO Max July 25

Netflix has confirmed a July 25 premiere for the Billy Joel documentary ‘And So It Goes’.

4 days ago
The Rolling Stones, Ros O'Gorman photographer, Rod Laver Arena
Ron Wood Joins Rod Stewart At Glastonbury

Ron Wood joined Rod Stewart at Glastonbury on the weekend but it wasn’t the Faces reunion that was anticipated.

4 days ago