Mourners gather in Louisiana to honor R&B star Percy Sledge

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BAKER, La. (AP) β€” Mourners and music fans have been gathering at a church in Baker, Louisiana, for the funeral of Percy Sledge, the rhythm and blues singer best known for the 1966 hit “When a Man Loves a Woman.”

Sledge died last week at age 74 after a battle with liver cancer.

Tuesday’s funeral at Bethany Church in Baker, near Baton Rouge, is being billed as a celebration of Sledge’s life. It will be streamed live at www.percysledge.org .

Sledge’s hits included “Warm and Tender Love” and “Take Time to Know Her.” But “When a Man Loves a Woman” β€” his first hit β€” became a standard that sustained his long touring career in the U.S., Europe and South Africa and led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.