Which 1966 Percy Sledge single became his signature song and a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit?

Which 1966 Percy Sledge single became his signature song and a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit? “When a Man Loves a Woman” did.

Percy Sledge recorded the soul ballad in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. Atlantic Records released it in April, and the recording reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B singles chart. It became the first No. 1 hit associated with the Muscle Shoals recording scene.

The song was written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, members of Sledge’s backing group. Before his breakthrough, Sledge worked as a hospital orderly and sang with the Esquires Combo on weekends. A connection made through his hospital work helped bring him to producer Quin Ivy, whose studio became central to the record’s creation.

The song’s enormous success sometimes overshadows Sledge’s other hits, including “Warm and Tender Love,” “It Tears Me Up,” and “Take Time to Know Her.” Michael Bolton’s 1991 cover also topped the Hot 100, but the original signature recording belongs to Percy Sledge.