Debra (b. 9 July 1954), Joan (b. 13 September 1956), Kim (b. 21 August 1957) and Kathy Sledge (b. 6 January 1959) were all born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. They started their recording career on the Money Back label with 1971’s ‘Time Will Tell’. A short time working as backing singers followed before the quartet enjoyed a series of minor R&B hits between 1974 and 1977. Two years later they entered a fruitful relationship with Chic masterminds Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards that resulted in several sparkling transatlantic hit singles, including ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’, ‘We Are Family’ and ‘Lost In Music’. The sisters then left the Chic organization and began to produce their own material in 1981. Although success in the USA waned, the quartet retained their UK popularity and two remixes of former hits served as a prelude to ‘Frankie’, a simple but irrepressible song which reached number 1 in 1985. The hits subsequently dried up and Kathy Sledge left for a solo career in 1989, but the remaining trio continues to perform on the concert circuit and released an excellent comeback album, African Eyes, in 1998.
