Singer Sledge Admits $95,000 Tax Evasion

Singer Percy Sledge, whose biggest hit was the song, “When a Man Loves a Woman,” has pleaded guilty to cheating the government out of more than $95,000 in taxes from performances in the late 1980s.

The 53-year-old singer who lives in Baton Rouge told U.S. District Judge John Parker on Thursday, “I knew I owed more.” Later he said, “I’m glad it’s all behind us now. It’s something that didn’t need to happen.”

Sledge was one of the biggest stars of the Soul Music craze of the 1960s. His first hit, “When a Man Loves a Woman” in 1966, was followed by “Warm and Tender Love,” “Cover Me,” “Take Time to Know Her,” and “Out of Leftfield.”

The Internal Revenue Service said that Sledge failed to pay all the taxes he owed from 1987 to ’89 from live performances for which he personally collected 75% of his fees in cash or certified checks.

He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and fined $750,000.