BackBeat R&B recently caught up with Debbie and Camille of the legendary “Sister Sledge” who achieved global success at the height of the disco era and were one of the hottest R&B girls group for nearly two decades.  The group was composed of four beautiful sisters, Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. They formed in 1971 and were natives of Philadelphia.

During the early part of their career, the ladies toured much of the East Coast including New York, New Jersey, and their home town Philadelphia.  After they released their first album, Circle of Love in 1975, they began building a fan base and following in Europe.

The success of their breakthrough album “We Are Family” earned them a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a duo or group and advanced “Sister Sledge”  to stardom and they have never looked back.  As  Debbie once said  “the words are about determination, and never giving up”. These ladies are responsible for some of the biggest dance anthems of all time. “Lost in Music”, “He’s The Greatest Dancer” and “Thinking of You” are universally cherished songs that bring people together in love, life, and soulful groove”.

 BackBeat R&B had the pleasure and honor of interviewing  Debbie and Camille Sledge,(Debbie’s daughter) thank you                “Sister Sledge” for sharing their beautiful voices with the world.

Photo credits-Chris Loomis

BB: “We Are Family” is a staple at most Family reunions, did you ladies think it would become as big as it did and what was the inspiration behind the song. 

BB:  What is the best advice you’ve been given about the music business? 

Debbie:   The best advice I’ve gotten for the music business and for life is from my grandmother, Ms. Viola Williams, She said “Stay focused on the right things…God and Family”. And recently we had the honor of meeting the honorable Mr. Robert Brown who presented us with his book with the title that says it best, “You Can’t Go Wrong Doing Right”.

BB:    When you very talented ladies agreed to go into the music business together, was it an easy decision to make?

BB:  What would you be doing right now if you didn’t go into music?

BB: You have performed with many legendary artists, who would you love to perform with now?

Camille:  YES!!! Tons of legendary artists have crossed our paths and we feel so blessed to have been in the presence of such talent! I’m personally interested in working with Pharrell Williams right now or Ceelo Green. They understand that cross between radio stations and original sounds that are new but never feel overly complex. 

Photo credit-Chris Loomis

Camille: We are all working on some amazing projects right now. We are going to honor our precious Joni with a grande release of some of her final work. (A shout out to the Nothing Is Greater Than Love Charity Foundation). We have also been in the studio cooking up some new musical goodies we are super excited about, so stay posted via  http://sistersledge.com/