In 1979, Sister Sledge released what would become their signature tune 'We Are Family'. Nearly 40 years later, it's the creed they still live by.
Originally comprised of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim and Kathy (daughters of Broadway tap dancer Edwin Sledge and actress Florez Sledge), Sister Sledge became icons of the disco era with hits like 'He's The Greatest Dancer' and 'Lost In Music'.
Despite the passing of disco's heyday and the 2017 death of Joni, Kim Sledge says the family spirit that has always bound them together remains stronger than ever. “It's the whole family basically,” Kim says of the outfit’s current make-up.
“My daughter Julie performs with us at times… Joni's son of course [Thaddeus Everett Whyte IV] has been travelling with us – he travels with us since he's not at school – and he is an amazing artist.
“What we do is all family and our unit – as well as our backstage unit – also includes family members because we believe it's important to include our family in what we do. It's a family business, it's a family fun time, it's a family affair really. Our band is superhuman... we're all people of faith, so we just feel that it's important to really care about what we're doing. We take our craft very seriously.”
The craft Sister Sledge have proudly honed over the past four decades will be on full display when the ladies join The Jacksons, Kool & The Gang, Village People, The Pointer Sisters and Sounds Of The Supremes for the Summer Series national tour in January.
For Kim, it will be a reunion of their extended road family they've built over their career and a chance to relive the glitz and glamour of their touring days. “It will be great to see some of the artists we've had the privilege of working with before at different points of our career, and we do have some history,” Kim says.
“We did a tour of the girls against the guys with The Jacksons before, actually this was very early on when they were The Jackson Five. Every day on that tour, the headlines were a battle against the girls and the guys: one day we'd win and another day they'd win the reviews would say. It was all in fun. In the middle of the night we'd all be travelling on our tour buses and we'd stop at road stops and joke around and laugh.”
Kim goes on to speak about another iconic sister act, The Pointer Sisters who gave the Sledge sisters plenty of advice in their early days. “With Pointer Sisters we saw them when we started out,” she says.
“I think on one of our first engagements we had the privilege of working with them, and they were so helpful to us in terms of talking about what it was like to perform and giving us tips for the stage. They were just really great, wonderful people to work with.”
Summer Series 2019
Sat 12 Jan - The Domain (Sydney)Sun 13 Jan - Sandstone Point Hotel (Brisbane)
Tue 15 Jan - Gold Coast Convention Centre
Wed 16 Jan - Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne)
Fri 18 Jan - Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Sat 19 Jan - Sandalford Winery (Perth)
