Percy Sledge, the soul singer best known for his hit “When A Man Loves a Woman” died Tuesday. He was 74.

Percy Sledge Dies

Sledge passed away in Baton Rouge, La., Stephanie Price of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office told CNN. He had died of natural causes after being taken into hospice care following a long battle with liver cancer.

“When A Man Loves a Woman,” which was released in 1966, was Sledge’s first and biggest hit. The song was inspired by Sledge’s former model girlfriend who’d left him after he was laid off from his job at the time.

“It was a perfect cut,” Sledge told USA Today in 2010. “You only come by it once in a lifetime. Same with Brook Benton and “Rainy Night in Georgia.” Elvis never got another song like “Love Me Tender” or Sinatra with “Strangers in the Night.” … I think it [“When a Man”] has that staying power as long as people have love in their hearts and minds. That will be forever.”

In addition to “When A Man Loves a Woman,” Sledge had hits with tracks “Take Time to Know Her,” “Warm and Tender Love” and “It Tears Me Up.”

Sledge was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2005.

Sledge is survived by his second wife Rosa Sledge and 12 children.