Yesterday (Wed., Jan. 13), soul legend Teddy Pendergrass died in Philadelphia. He was 59.
The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father passed away at a 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.”
Although he is best known for his soulful singing and passionate love ballads, Pendergrass got his start as a drummer and in 1969 hooked up with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.
By 1971 he had become the face and voice of the group which had signed with legendary producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff at Philadelphia International Records.
The Blue Notes scored smashes such as “The Love I Lost,” “Yesterday I Had the Blues” and “Wake Up, Everybody.”
Pendergrass went solo in 1976. And according to his website he became the first black male singer in history to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums.
Gamble and Huff, in a joint statement, said that Pendergrass was “one of the greatest artists that the music industry has ever known, and there hasn’t been another one since.
“We’ve lost our voice and we’ve lost our best friend, but we’re thankful for what we had,” the statement read. “It was beautiful. He was one of the best.”
According to Eurweb.com, Teddy Pendergrass is survived by his wife, his mother, a son, two daughters and nine grandchildren.
Information from Eurweb.com contributed to this report.
