foreign
with the tap dancing father actress mother and opera singing grandmother these four sisters
were certainly destined from birth to create their own artistic success born and raised in
Philadelphia Pennsylvania Sister Sledge consisting of the four Sledge girls ranging in ages from 12
to 16 officially formed in 1971. the family also included a fifth daughter that the girl's mother
had before marrying their father Edwin and Flores sledges daughters Deborah also known as Debbie
Joan also known as Joni Kim and Kathy started out taking their cues from their grandmother
Viola Williams under her guidance they sang regularly at their church and performed at
various Community functions throughout Philly everywhere they went everyone knew who they
were as they went by the name Mrs Williams grandchildren Debbie told glamor in 2022 we
always sang but my grandmother taught us about breath control vocal ability ability being able
to build and diction before long they formed a ban and with Debbie serving as vocal arranger
Joni as artistic director and their mother as manager Sister Sledge was born the group then
toured much of the East Coast including the New York New Jersey area and of course their
hometown of Philadelphia the sisters never neglected their studies though they all went
on to graduate from Olney high school as well as all complete their undergraduate studies at
Temple University the girls first professional single release called time will tell came out in
1971. it went nowhere two years later they dropped another track Mama never told me the song produced
moderate results with a top 20 placement on the UK chart their Nets release though love don't go
through no changes on me would give the siblings their first taste of commercial success in the
U.S the song also became a big hit in Japan and as a result the girls were flown to the
country to perform at the toke Music Festival they even won the prestigious silver prize
the sisters got to perform at the three-day live music festivals a year 74 taking place
in the Central African country the concert was meant to be a major promotional event for the
heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman famously known
as The Rumble in the Jungle sister sledge's debut album Circle of Love was released by
Atco a subsidiary of Atlantic Records in 1975. their follow-up album titled together dropped
two years later released through yet another Atlantic subsidiary the Cotillion label the
album only produced a minor hit with the single Blockbuster boy now after nearly eight years of
hard work with very minimal accomplishments the group questioned if they should continue
and started to think about taking their lives in a different direction Kim even enrolled in law
school Atlantic Records though wasn't willing to give up they decided to connect the girls
with producers now Rogers and Bernard Williams of the Disco funk band chic the collaboration would
change everything for Sister Sledge In A Major Way We Are Family the sister's third album and
produced by Niall and Bernard was released in January 1979 the lead single he's the greatest
dancer charted at number one on the r b chart and made it into the top 10 on the hot 100. a
couple of months later the records title track followed and became a worldwide Smash It Rose
to number two on the Hot 100 number one on the r b chart and received a Grammy nomination family
the album became certified platinum and produced two more classic disco singles lost in music
and thinking of you Sister Sledge continued to release several albums throughout the 80s none
of them Reach platinum or gold status and only a few singles did moderately well on the r b chart
their main standouts would be the Hot 100 top 30 track my guy a cover of the Mary Wells classic off
their 1982 album the sisters and Frankie author 1985 album when the boys meet the girls it went to
number one in the UK and also achieved gold status there then in 1989 Kathy went solo even though she
would still be active with Sister Sludge from time to time this move would have a negative impact on
her relationship with her sisters for decades to come we'll get into those details a little later
Sister Sledge recordings would then become sporadic From This Moment onward Debbie Joanie
and Kim continue to perform as Sister Sledge and in 1992 collaborated with Jean-Paul Monet
better known by his stage name Bluey from UK as a jazz group incognito on the single
world rise and shine the song is featured on the sister's greatest hits album released that same
year titled and now Sledge again the single reached number one in Italy and resulted in
the trio starring in their own TV show there the group's next studio album release would be
largely overlooked commercially but still stand out as one of their greatest achievements 1998's
African eyes produced by Joni would contain their 1992 hit world rise and shine and Garner much
critical Acclaim the 2000s and 2010s would bring a variety of high and low experiences
for the ladies of Sister Sledge all four members reunited in the studio to record their last album
date titled style in 2003 Kim then took some time out from the group the reason for her absence was
quite serious she'd become very ill with the H1N1 virus commonly known as swine flu in 2010
while she was being treated for it however she then contracted pneumonia and had to be
admitted into an intensive care unit things then went from bad to worse when she also contracted
a rare fungal infection Kim's always had strong faith throughout her life eventually deciding to
become an ordained minister after the group's Fame began to die down she believes without a
doubt that her faith got her through the horrific ordeal in the meantime Joni and Debbie continue
to tour together with various guest artists including Debbie's daughter the ladies banded
together in 2012 to file a major class action lawsuit against Warner Music Group alleging
they were cheated out of millions of dollars based on improper calculations of revenue from digital
music sales the suit was eventually settled in the ladies favor for 11.5 million dollars
when Pope Francis visited the U.S in 2015 Philadelphia was one of his stops when Sister
Sledge was asked to perform We Are Family for him Debbie Joanie and Kim would take to the stage but
Kathy would not be present according to a press release sent on Kathy's behalf her sisters refused
to allow her to participate sadly on March 10 2017 Joni Sledge passed away at her home in Phoenix
Arizona she was 60 years old thankfully just a couple of months before her passing her Debbie
Kim and Kathy got together and hugged things out her family issued the following statement
concerning the cause of death the medical examiner and Joni's personal physician determined on 10th
March 2017 that her death was due to natural causes which arose from complications from a
pre-existing condition please continue to respect the family's request for peaceful privacy during
this very difficult time thank you and God bless you what could be looked at as a final farewell to
Joni that same year we are family was selected for preservation in the national recording registry
by the Library of Congress for being culturally historically or artistically significant following
Joni's death Debbie and Kim announced that they would continue to perform as Sister Sledge and
they did but not for long in the summer of 2021 Kathy celebrated a significant Victory she was
finally able to tour using the name Sister Sledge which she was previously not allowed to do finally
because of some of the madness with the sisters I was allowed to use the brand it was crazy for like
the past 20 years as a corporation they voted that I was the only sister that couldn't say I was of
Sister Sledge or from Sister Sledge since Kathy went solo in 1989 a wedge slowly began to form
between her and her sisters rumors suggest that they felt abandoned and resentful over her solo
Endeavors in 20 20 Kathy confirmed as much in an interview with pop matters I never left my sisters
I was given an ultimatum when I did a solo project I was given an offer I wanted to take that chance
I went to my sisters and said I really want to do this I was told no you cannot if you do it you got
to go later when Kathy went to use their group name to advertise her appearances her sisters
put a stop to it through a lawsuit although Kathy would still occasionally join her sisters on stage
things stayed Frosty between them for a very long time the first person to extend an olive branch
would be Kim right before the pandemic hit the two actually live in the same neighborhood and
began getting together for coffee and got to talking Kim apologized for the past and gave
Kathy her rights back naturally news of Kathy and Kim reconnecting prompted suggestions of a reunion
Kathy however remains uncertain as she explained in her 2021 interview with newschain online we
always get asked will we do anything together again I feel like people have to understand that
we've been doing this all of our lives and it's very healthy to go to other plateaus that was
clearly evident when Kathy joined by Nile Rogers and not any of her sisters put on a rendition of
their 1979 hit during the 2021 presidential inauguration of Joe Biden in the same news
chain online interview Kathy also touched on the current state of Sister Sledge if you go to the
Sister Sledge website you see a photo of three faces you don't know which is basically Debbie
and her family what we are trying to do is if a 14 year old wanted to do a book report or essay
on Sister Sledge you should be able to pull up the authentic sisters so we're working on that and Kim
and I get along fine the current 2022 version of Sister Sledge as seen on their website and social
media consists of Debbie her daughter Camille her son David Joni's son Thaddeus and friend
Tanya TF they also go by the name Sister Sledge featuring legendary so what happened to Kim well
another rumor going around is that things got rough between Kim and Debbie since Kim and Kathy
made up apparently Debbie's still not ready to bury the hatchet with her younger sister
Kathy who did score a number one dance hit as a solo artist in 1992
with the track Take Me Back To Love Again continues to do her solo thing
on stage every chance she gets as for the fans who desperately want to see
the original lineup back together again if I were you I wouldn't hold my breath