teddy pendergrass - one in a million you

was born on March 26, 1950, in Kingstree, S.C., and moved to Philadelphia as an infant with his mother, Ida Pendergrass. Though he could no longer tour, a worldwide television audience saw him sing at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in 1985, and he returned occasionally to the stage in the 1990s and 2000s.

His voice was less forceful but still recognizable, as he substituted nuance for lung power. Spinal cord injuries left him paralyzed from the chest down at 31.īut after extensive physical therapy he resumed his recording career and had Top 10 rhythm and blues hits and gold albums into the ’90s. Pendergrass’s Rolls-Royce smashed into a highway divider and a tree, a result of either brake failure or a faulty electric system that had disabled the power steering. Then, on March 18, 1982, on a winding road in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Mr. Women would fling teddy bears and lingerie onstage. Pendergrass’s concerts - some of them presented for women only - drew screaming, ecstatic crowds. You could hear it in his music.”īy the late ’70s, Mr. Huff said in a telephone interview Thursday. “Teddy had that big, booming baritone voice, but he was a tender man,” Mr. Pendergrass with material that was forthright but never crude, promising nothing more explicit than a back rub. Philadelphia International’s songwriters provided Mr. It was the flagship sound for Philadelphia International Records, riding lush strings and big-band disco from the producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. His performances rose from breathy whispers to gutsy exhortations, making his voice the deeper, more aggressive counterpart to the styles of 1970s soul men like Al Green and Marvin Gaye. Pendergrass brought gospel dynamics to bedroom vows in songs like “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” “The Love I Lost,” “Close the Door,” “Turn Off the Lights” and “Love T.K.O.” Pendergrass had been treated for colon cancer since August at Bryn Mawr Hospital and had suffered many complications.Īs the lead singer for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and in a solo career in which he sold millions of albums, Mr. His death was confirmed by his publicist, Lisa Barbaris, who said Mr. Teddy Pendergrass, the Philadelphia soul singer whose husky, potent baritone was one definition of R&B seduction in the 1970s but whose career was transformed in 1982 when he was severely paralyzed in an auto accident, died on Wednesday night in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Teddy pendergrass - one in a million you