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Percy Sledge will be in Lancaster on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the USC Lancaster Bundy Auditorium. The Bundy Auditorium is located within the Bradley Arts and Sciences Building on the campus of USC Lancaster.

Sledge will forever be associated with the late 60’s hit “When a Man Loves a Woman,” a pleading, soulful ballad he sang with wrenching, convincing anguish and passion. “When a Man Loves a Woman” remains one of the most heavily played songs on the radio—estimates of its airplays range around five million. About 50 other artists have recorded their own versions of the ballad, and the song earned a Grammy award for pop crooner Michael Bolton in 1992.

Sledge’s career did not end with that momentous first single. Though he enjoyed a number of lesser hits, including “Cover Me,” “It Tears Me Up,” “Warm and Tender Love,” “Out of Left Field,” “Take Time to Know Her,” “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms),” and “I’ll Be Your Everything,” “When a Man Loves a Woman” stands as the lone hit in Sledge’s repertoire.

While Sledge has estimated that he has sung “When a Man Loves a Woman” thousands of times since he first recorded it, he admits that the original recording is timeless. “It will be forever, it’s a masterpiece,” Sledge said in an interview with the Australian Sunday Times. “It’ll never be cut like that again. Not me, not anybody, will sing it like that again. Everything was perfect in that song.” He also claims to never tire of singing the ballad after more than three decades. “It’s a beautiful song,” Sledge told the Los Angeles Daily News. “I could never get sick of it.”

In 1989, Sledge received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s first Career Achievement Award, and in 2005, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sledge, one of the very few links between country and soul, has remained an in-demand performer averaging about 100 dates a year in the US and Europe.

For tickets or information, please contact Jimola W. Wade, Lancaster Performing Arts Manager, by calling (803) 289-1486 or e-mail jwade@lancastercitysc.com . The state-of-the-art 400 seat Bundy Auditorium at USC Lancaster creates an atmosphere in which guests can sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance!