Percy Sledge Recorded His Only No. 1 Hit After His Girlfriend Moved Away

In 1966, Percy Sledge released “When A Man Loves A Woman”. The song, his first single, is the title track of Sledge’s freshman album. It was written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, who played music with Sledge.

Sledge isn’t credited as a writer on “When A Man Loves A Woman”. But the song is very autobiographical for him, based on a heartbreak he endured. “When A Man Loves A Woman” says in part, “Well, this man loves you, woman / I gave you everything I had / Tryin’ to hold on to your heartless love / Baby, please don’t treat me bad.”

Sledge reportedly recorded this song when he was upset about his longtime girlfriend, who left him to become a model in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t have any money to go after her,” Sledge says. “So there was nothing I could do to try and get her back.” But he was so distraught about losing her that when he was playing a gig with Lewis and Wright, he asked them to play something sad. Sledge spilled his broken heart for several minutes, creating what became “When A Man Loves A Woman”.

The Writing of “When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge

It’s interesting that Sledge is not listed as a writer on “When A Man Loves A Woman”. Still, he later does say he was part of the writing process.

“When I wrote the song at first, it was called ‘Why Did You Leave Me Baby’,” Sledge recounts. “And I changed it from that to ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’. I just reversed it.”

“When A Man Loves A Woman” not only became a big hit for Sledge, but it was also recorded by numerous other artists, including Michael Bolton. Bolton’s version, out in 1991, became a No. 1 hit for him as well. Lewis admits he and Wright had no idea that the song would become so successful.

“It’s kind of mind-boggling to me that the song is still doing what it’s doing,” Lewis tells American Songwriter. “At the time we wrote it, it didn’t hit me what having an ‘A’ side release meant until the song was well on its way to number one.”

Decades later, Lewis still remembers hearing Sledge sing their song on the radio for the first time.

“It was just incredible,” he says. “There was just this feeling that went all the way through me. But I never thought it would last this long.”

Photo by Gilles Petard/Redferns

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