By Merrit Kennedy, npr.org
Joni Sledge of the group Sister Sledge, best known for the iconic disco 1979 anthem We Are Family, has died at 60.
The group’s publicist, Biff Warren, said Sledge was found at home in Arizona and they have yet to determine a cause of death. She had not been ill, he said.
“We miss her and hurt for her presence, her radiance, and the sincerity with which she loved & embraced life,” the group said in a statement.
Sister Sledge was originally made up of Joni and three of her sisters — Debbie, Kim, and Kathy — though Kathy parted ways with the group in 1989. They hailed from Philadelphia and formed the group in the early 70s, inspired by their opera-singing grandmother.
Their biggest hit, “We Are Family”, written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic, came eight years after they got together and during a difficult time for the group professionally.
“We were saying: ‘Well, maybe we should go to college and just become lawyers or something other than music, because it really is tough,'” Sledge told The Guardian in an interview last year.
Read more at http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/12/519909181/we-are-family-singer-joni-sledge-dies-at-60
