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Sister Sledge Remembers Michael Jackson

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Jul 7, 2009 1:40 pm US/Eastern

Sister Sledge Remembers Michael Jackson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Sister Sledge toured with the Jackson 5 in the 1979.
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While thousands are flocking to Los Angeles to remember Michael Jackson, many in our area are honoring the King of Pop in their own way. Singer Kathy Sledge, of the group Sister Sledge, took a moment to recall her time with the infamous performer.

Sledge recalls Jackson as a powerful performer at a young age. She toured with Michael and the Jackson 5 nearly 30 years ago in the late 70s.

"The first word that comes to me is kind," she said.

Sister Sledge toured with many popular performers in 1979, including James Brown and Ike Turner, but Kathy said as a young artist, Michael was clearly ahead of his time.

"I remember most he was quiet, but he was pensive though, as if he was always thinking about things," she said.

Jackson may have been a silent thinker backstage, but Sledge says all that changed once he got in front of the crowd.

"He was just like all this electricity, he was in the zone," she said.

Sledge, a West Philadelphia native who currently calls Bucks County home, has turned to music to cope with Jackson's death. She recently rearranged Gershwin's famous song, "You Can't Take That Away From Me," as a tribute to Michael.

"The words, I started reciting, 'The way you wear your hat, the way you dance till three,'" Sledge said. "When you hear it, I'd love people to just think of him."

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