MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — Percy Sledge, who soared from part-time singer and hospital orderly to lasting fame with his performance on the classic “When a Man Loves a Woman,” died Tuesday in Louisiana. His family said he died at his home in Baton Rouge at 74 after a struggle with cancer.

A No. 1 hit in 1966, “When a Man Loves a Woman” was Sledge’s debut single.

The song was a personal triumph for Sledge, who seemed on the verge of sobbing throughout the production, and a breakthrough for Southern soul. It was the first No. 1 hit from the burgeoning Muscle Shoals music scene in northern Alabama, where Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones would record, and the first gold record for Atlantic Records.