PHILADELPHIA - Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B's reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59.
The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer 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," his son said. "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 chord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site.
Pendergrass gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes on songs including "If You Don't Know Me by Now," but it was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame. With songs such as "Love T.K.O.," "Close the Door" and "I Don't Love You Anymore," he came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability.
His lyrics were never coarse, as those of later male R&B stars would be, but they had a sensual nature that bordered on erotic without being explicit.
"Turn Off the Lights" was a tune that perhaps best represented the many moods of Pendergrass — tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reached its climax.
Pendergrass made women swoon with each note, and his concerts were a testament to that adulation, with infamous stories of women throwing their underwear on stage for his affection.
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He was one of the last most soulful singers to ever perform. R.I.P. Teddy Bear
__________________ Ride or Die!! -- Jekyll & Hyde Serena Fan. *13 - Slam Singles (and counting)
Powerful...Beautiful...Athletic...Graceful...Actress...Celebrity...Business Savvy...
Designer...Driven...Transcendent... A Living Legend and Future Hall Of Famer...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you... SERENA "GOAT" WILLIAMS
He was an increible singer, who battled his own set of demons, like most great artists often do. But he churned out some of the best hits of the 1970s with a group called Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and also during his solo career.
I loved these two the best:
Love TKO
__________________ Ride or Die!! -- Jekyll & Hyde Serena Fan. *13 - Slam Singles (and counting)
Powerful...Beautiful...Athletic...Graceful...Actress...Celebrity...Business Savvy...
Designer...Driven...Transcendent... A Living Legend and Future Hall Of Famer...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you... SERENA "GOAT" WILLIAMS
Blaming Obama for the shape the country is in is like bringing a guy who's been shot 12 times at pointblank range with .357 magnum to the ER, then blaming the doctor when he dies.
I love Wake Up Everybody, a very socially conscious song. Its sadly ironic that he had the accident and then died of cancer B4 the age of 60, after the lyrics in said song:
Wake up all the doctors
Make the old people well
They're the ones who suffer
And who catch all the hell
RIP Teddy
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Current avatar Tarryl Clark (Democratic challenger to Michele Bachmann for Congress in MN) is a real cutie.
I've got a lot of the songs mentioned above on my ipod. One I didn't catch was "Come on over to my Place" a hilarious seduction song that mislead many a young teen like myself...we just couldn't do it like Teddy.
OMG!! Teddy Pendergrass passed away!! :(
OMG!! Teddy Pendergrass passed away!! :(
SERENA "GOAT" WILLIAMS
