Joni Sledge, the singer best-known for the disco anthem We Are Family, has died aged 60.<\/p>\n
Sledge, who formed Sister Sledge with her three siblings in 1971, was found unresponsive by a friend at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, her publicist said.<\/p>\n
She had not been ill and the cause of death is unknown.<\/p>\n
Sledge, who is survived by her adult son, last performed with the band in October.<\/p>\n
Her death was announced on social media on Saturday – a week before the group were due to perform in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
“Yesterday, numbness fell upon our family,” a statement released on Facebook read.<\/p>\n
“We are saddened to inform you that our dear sister, mother, aunt, niece and cousin, Joni passed away yesterday.”<\/p>\n
It added: “We miss her and hurt for her presence, her radiance, and the sincerity with which she loved and embraced life.”<\/p>\n
Aside from the Grammy-nominated We Are Family, the hit which sold more than a million copies after it was released in 1978, the group also was known for He’s the Greatest Dancer, Lost in the Music and a cover of the Motown classic My Guy.<\/p>\n
They sang We Are Family for Pope Francis in 2015.<\/p>\n
The Sledge sisters came from a family of performers, including an actress mother, a Broadway star for a father and an opera singer for a grandmother.<\/p>\n
They performed together from a young age, leading Sledge to note “I can’t remember not singing” during an interview with the BBC in 2015.<\/p>\n
However, the four have not stayed together throughout their careers. Instead, the band became a trio after sister Kathy left the band in 1989.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Joni Sledge, the singer best-known for the disco anthem We Are Family, has died aged 60. Sledge, who formed Sister Sledge with her three siblings in 1971, was found unresponsive by a friend at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, her publicist said. She had not been ill and the cause of death is unknown. Sledge, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[403,137],"tags":[4940,4941],"yoast_head":"\n