July 2005

- Lynchburg News & Advance - “Percy Sledge fans may have been surprised last year when the soul legend released his first album in 10 years, "Shining Through the Rain." They may be surprised again to learn Sledge is coming in concert to Lynchburg. On July 9, four months after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Sledge will perform at the Holiday Inn Select downtown for the Freedom Ball, a benefit for the Metropolitan Lynchburg Chapter of the American Red Cross. The event begins at 7 p.m. with cash bar cocktails and a silent auction. Dinner begins at 8 p.m., and diners may choose from filet mignon and shrimp scampi, chicken Marsala or salmon filet, when they order tickets. Immediately following the meal, Sledge will begin his show. ” - Click Here to read the Entire Article !

---

April 2005

Mikael Rickfors /Percy Sledge tour of Sweden:

May 2 & 3 Stockholm

4 Norrköping
6 Orebro
7 Göteborg
10 Gävle
11 Jönköping
13-14 Malmö

---

March 2005

- Rod Stewart Magazine - “I feel so wonderful about getting into the Hall of Fame. I’ve gotten so many wonderful awards over the years but this one has got to be the greatest one of them all. The night of my induction it was truly wonderful and the fact that Rod Stewart was the guy who inducted me made the evening even more special. He is one of the greatest singers I’ve ever heard in my life and I’m not saying that just because he inducted me. I’ve always loved his singing and his music. To meet him for the first time on the night I was inducted was a thrill and when I think about it, I could ask for nothing more than to meet Rod at that special time. I really want to thank him for doing what he did for me, for taking the time to come to New York and inducting me and being such a warm person and true gentleman. Rod, I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart, you’re a great man, a great talent and I love you. My wife, Rosa, and I want to congratulate you and your fiancée on your engagement. We both wish you all the happiness in the world and I hope we can meet again some day.” - Percy Sledge

 

PERCY INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK HALL!

Singer Rod Stewart said of When A Man Loves a Woman "one of the best performances I've ever heard and I'm sure you've ever heard.'' Highlights of the induction ceremony will be televised at 9 p.m. Saturday on VH1. Click Here to join the discussion about the induction on our message board.

 

- Rolling Stone magazine - Percy Sledge's very first recording was far and away his biggest, but what a recording it was. The yearning, churchy ballad "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a Number One smash in 1966, and the song has enjoyed routine revivals in commercials, on soundtracks and in the variably talented hands of tribute singers from Bette Midler to Michael Bolton. Sledge, recording for Atlantic Records in the label's late-Sixties heyday, had his second biggest hit with "Take Time to Know Her," which just missed the Top Ten in 1968. A superb match with the soulful material of songwriters Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham ("Dark End of the Street"), Sledge had a talent for putting his own stamp on familiar songs, including Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" and Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender." Click Here For More

---

February 2005

- Press Release - Rod Stewart to induct Percy Sledge into the Hall of Fame ! Click Here For More

---

January 2005

- Rolling Stone magazine January 27, 2005
Percy Sledge

Shining Through the Rain

3.5 stars (of 4)

“SHINING THROUGH THE RAIN” shows that sixty-two-year-old Percy Sledge can still locate the emotional essence of a song, as he did so unforgettably on “When a Man Loves a Woman,” his 1966 debut single. Producers Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg designed the album to mimic the soulful, laid-back vibe of Norala Studios in Sheffield, Alabama, where the 2005 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee cut most of his early sides, and he sounds right at home. Along the way, Sledge – whose husky tenor retains the character of a muted trumpet – puts his claim on Steve Earle’s hillbilly lament “My Old Friend the Blues,” the unreleased Bee Gees ballad “A Lonely Violin” and Gregg Sutton and John Herron’s perfect Stax/Volt knockoff “24-7-365.” Throughout this easy-grooving record, Sledge seems to expend no more energy than it takes to keep a porch swing rocking.
-BUD SCOPPA, Rolling Stone

- MSNBC/Billboard Feature on Percy Sledge - "The Hall of Fame accolade should throw some light on Sledge’s most recent album, “Shining Through the Rain.” The collection, issued this year by Varese Sarabande, was the vocalist’s first since “Blue Night” was released by Virgin’s defunct Pointblank imprint a decade ago.." Click Here For More

- The Associated Press - "I just got back from doing some shows in New York, and my wife, Rosa, called and told me while I was en route," the soul singer said Monday. "It just went all through me when she told me. I was stunned — the same way I was when I got my Grammy." Click Here For More

- SoulTracks.com Feature on Percy - "I really didn't think that I would have the opportunity to record another album but when Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg approached me nine years or so after our last project, “Blue Night,” I just knew we would do it again. I knew it because the material and the attitude would be right. " Click Here For Full Feature

- LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ""It's been a pretty long haul," says Saul Davis, who co-produced both albums with veteran bluesman and keyboardist Barry Goldberg. "The guy's only made, like, eight albums in his career." "Shining Through the Rain" might not have been made if not for a chance encounter. Two and a half years ago, Davis was on his way to publishing house Bug Music's old offices at Hollywood & Highland and got off the elevator on the wrong floor. He struck up a conversation with Brett Nemeroff, whose company Velvet Steamroller was housed on that floor, and the film and music outfit wound up funding a new Sledge recording. " Click Here For Full Feature

- LA Weekly (Los Angeles, CA) - "The first time Percy Sledge walked into a recording studio, he walked out with a No. 1 record. With stately, gospel-drenched organ framing Sledge’s ice-pick-through-the-heart vocals, his 1966 recording of “When a Man Loves a Woman” became the first “deep soul” record to top the Billboard Pop charts. It’s been his set-closer for the last 38 years. “I do it different every time,” says Sledge.. Click Here for the entire article