Sister Sledge on family, legacy, new music, ‘Sledgendary’ Fallsview show

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Founded in the early 1970s by Debbie, Joni, Kathy and Kim Sledge, Sister Sledge has taken on new life in the group Sister Sledge featuring Sledgendary, a group consisting of Debbie Sledge and four members of the next generation of the family — her children Camille and David Sledge, her nephew Thaddeus Sledge and longtime collaborator Tanya Ti-et. The group will be performing at 9 p.m. on March 28 at Fallsview Casino’s Avalon Theatre.

“I’m having a ball, I’m so very happy. I didn’t anticipate being this happy — performing with my family and with my kids,” Debbie Sledge told WIVB last month. “This is like a second generation Sister Sledge and I’m thrilled. I am so happy with the way that — these are great singers, they’re great performers, they’re artists, they’re writers. I did not know half the stuff that I’m learning about my own kids, it’s just awesome. I shouldn’t say kids; they’re the adult children.”

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Camille Sledge remarked on the adult children’s role in the group and carrying on what her mother and aunts started.

“It feels like we’re continuing a legacy, it feels like — it’s important to our family to keep these songs alive and to keep the family rooted and lifted in music and to have something to do with the younger generation being involved,” she said. “It feels really, really important.”

Her brother David said it feels “amazing” to take the stage with his family.

An extremely talented group, the vocal prowess and artistic skill reaches beyond the five members of Sister Sledge ft. Sledgendary.

“We have more family than [the four of us in the interview], this is just a fraction of the family,” Camille Sledge said. “You should see our cousins, like Kim’s and Kathy’s kids and Joni’s son Thaddeus — he’s not here right now — but we know that [the whole family has talent] is a true statement, it’s really true. We have some talented family.”

Debbie Sledge said the group continues to grow in these talents, as the members of the new generation hone in on their skills.

“We’re discovering more and more every day with vocal abilities, and we’re still growing, and the writing skills these guys have, great ears, we have rehearsals that are fun because — some people talk a lot,” she joked. “But we have great rehearsals and we have a lot of fun. They’re really like get-togethers.”

Speaking via Zoom from a dance studio at the School of HipHop in Phoenix, Ariz., a nonprofit owned and operated by Camille Sledge and her husband, Debbie Sledge explained how the Sledge family legacy is continuing through to the youngest generations via the school.

“She’s carrying on the legacy with the children in the community,” Debbie said. “It’s beautiful to see, I’m very proud.”

The group had just finished a rehearsal in the dance studio. Camille explained that the group volunteers their time to work with the kids, for whom the school has established a community.

“We do tons of stuff and [Sister Sledge] are always huge supporters,” she said.

“Family is an important thread through the School of HipHop as well,” Camille Sledge continued. “We want to make sure the youth know that they have family. They have family here at the School of HipHop, they have family in the community, that they can count on.”

Debbie Sledge said that the group’s legacy — a legacy of music and family — is a message of the importance of family.

“Families can have a lot of fun, families can be very powerful,” she said. “That is one of the dreams or goals that I had when I asked these people if they wanted to do this. And I was very, very thrilled when they agreed to do it, because all of them are artists in their own right.”

She also teased new songs and remixes, saying that the group is working on new music.

The group suggested that those who plan on attending bring sweat rags, water bottles, their brightest smiles and their dancing shoes.

“Definitely prepare for a good time,” Tanya Ti-et said.

Tickets to the March 28 show at Fallsview are available at this link.

Adam Duke is a digital contributor who joined WIVB in 2021. See more of his work here.

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