Debbie Sledge

Emerging from Philadelphia's soul and disco scene, Debbie Sledge became known in the early 1970s as a member of Sister Sledge, which she formed with her sisters Kathy, Joni and Kim. As lead vocalist and vocal director of the group, Debbie Sledge helped steer the band toward R&B, disco and later pop with songs such as We Are Family, He’s the Greatest Dancer, Lost in Music and Thinking of You, which firmly established Sister Sledge on the international stage. Alongside touring, Debbie Sledge developed a more intimate, jazz‑oriented side influenced by Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Shirley Horn. This taste for standards and reinterpretations is evident on her first solo album Unsung (2014), a collection of revisited love songs and original compositions, and on the project Sledge Sings Simone (2020), recorded live with pianist Niels Lan Doky and his International Jazz Collective. Debbie Sledge subsequently increased her live collaborations, notably with the Niels Lan Doky Trio, and released the soul single Never Change in collaboration with a Dutch composer‑arranger. At the heart of the family project Sister Sledge ft. Sledgendary, Debbie Sledge now shares the stage with her children and close relatives, between disco‑funk heritage, jazz repertoire and new collective productions.