Thursday, January 14, 2010

RIP Teddy

R&B Singer dies at age of 59

With hits like "Love T.K.O.," "Turn Off the Lights," "Close the Door," and "I Don't Love Your Anymore, Teddy Pendergrass, the singer with the velvetly baritone voice that melted the hearts of women every where died yesterday after a long battled with colon cancer. He was 59 years old.

According to this song, Teddy Pendergrass, III, the singer, who was in a devasting car crash that left him paralyzed, underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery,” his son said. "To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music."

Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.” He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.

Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site.

Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950, gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In 1971, the group signed a record deal with the legendary writer/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The group released it first single, “I Miss You,” in 1972 and then released “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Pendergrass quit the group in 1975 and embarked on a solo career in 1976. It was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame as  he came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability.

Here are some of his greatest hits.