The Story of ‘We Are Family’ by Sister Sledge – as told by Kathy Sledge

6 January 2026, 13:24

Discover more about the lyrics, meaning and recording of Sister Sledge’s signature song.

Ever since its release in 1979, Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’ has been a must-play song for families celebrating bonds no matter where they are in the world.

“I think I have sung at every family reunion!” jokes Kathy Sledge, the song’s lead singer, about the track’s everlasting popularity.

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But how did the iconic track come to be? Who wrote it? What inspired it? And what do Sister Sledge think today about the song’s continued success?

Smooth Radio caught up with Kathy to get all the details...

Watch Kathy Sledge tell the story of ‘We Are Family’ here:

The Story of 'We Are Family' by Sister Sledge, told by Kathy Sledge | Smooth Radio

And keep reading to find out all there is to know about the much-loved Sister Sledge single!

Who wrote ‘We Are Family’?

‘We Are Family’ was written by Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards for Sister Sledge to sing.

The pair’s collaboration with the young sibling group marked the first time they penned songs which weren’t intended for Chic.

Reminiscing about how she and her sisters were introduced to Nile and Bernard, Kathy recalled: “What’s crazy is there was a long list of artists [including] The Rolling Stones [that they could have written for] but Nile and Bernard were like ‘Nah, give us an act that’s obscure that no one knows.’”

We Are Family (1995 Remaster)

Of course, following their collaboration with the songwriting duo Sister Sledge quickly rose from obscurity to huge fame.

“The word that comes to my mind most when people ask about recording with Nile and Bernard was trust,” Kathy said, thinking back to how she and her sisters Debbie, Kim and Joni took to recording with the Chic duo.

Though the group sometimes clashed with Nile and Bernard about how the pair's spontaneous approach to recording, they learnt to trust the method.

"They were so confident, and that was infectious... I grew confident that people would one day know these songs – and the rest is history!”

Who inspired ‘We Are Family’?

Sister Sledge were the inspiration for ‘We Are Family’, meaning Kathy is singing about herself and her sisters in the song.

According to Kathy, Nile and Bernard wrote the song’s lyrics based on the introduction they were given to her and her sisters by Atlantic Records president Jerry L. Greenberg.

“Jerry started describing my sisters and myself: ‘You gotta meet these girls, they’re family. They flock together like birds of a feather,’” she recalled.

And these phrases plus more inspired by then-15-year-old Kathy and her sisters were what ended up shaping the song’s iconic lines.

What is the meaning of Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’?

Though ‘We Are Family’ was originally written about the Sledge sisters, its lyrics about celebrating close family bonds have made it relatable to millions of other families.

The song has also become significant to ‘found-families’ and family-like groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and movements like America’s Girl Scouts.

“It never gets old... it’s surpassed the description of us,” Kathy celebrated, revealing this is what she’s “proudest” about the song.

“It has become this global platform of a song for so many different [groups].”

Is there a music video for Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’?

Yes! Sister Sledge got together to film a music video for ‘We Are Family’ in order to promote the song when it was released in 1979.

The song features footage of the group dancing, at times edited around photos of the sisters from when they were younger.

Sister Sledge - We Are Family (Official Music Video)

How did ‘We Are Family’ perform when it was released?

When it was released in 1979, ‘We Are Family’ made it to the Top 10 in the charts in the UK and US, and got to top of the singles chart in Canada.

In the year of its release, American baseball team the Pittsburgh Pirates adopted the track as their theme song.

The team went on the win that year’s World Series, helping further increase the song’s popularity in the US charts.

What do Sister Sledge think about ‘We Are Family’ still being their signature song today?

Kathy and her sisters love ‘We Are Family’’s longevity and how much it means to so many others, making them very proud to have it considered to be their ‘signature’ song.

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Performing the song “never gets old,” Kathy explained.

Even in today’s world where performers deal more and more with audiences who appear less in the moment while recording songs on their phones, she said: “With ‘We Are Family’ it’s a little different.

“People really are feeling the emotion of ‘We Are Family’ and the closeness of it.”