R&B great Teddy Pendergrass died yesterday of colon cancer at the age of 59. The singer had been fighting the disease since it was diagnosed in 2009.
Pendergrass’ career began in the early ‘70s as the drummer for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Once he jumped forward to sing on stage, he became the band’s lead singer of hits such as “I Miss You,” “Bad Luck,” “Wake Up Everybody,” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now.”
Pendergrass left the group in the late ‘70s to pursue a solo career and found great success with hits like “The More I Get the More I Want,” “Close the Door,” I Don’t Love You Anymore,” and “Turn Off the Lights.”
Pendergrass’ career was briefly halted when he was involved in a serious car accident in 1983. While in Philadelphia, his Rolls-Royce crashed a tree during the early morning. While his passenger was alright, Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the waist down.
Despite the injury, Pendergrass kept releasing albums including five in the ‘80s, five in the ‘90s, and three since 2000. His first public performance after the wreck was at 1985’s Live Aid concert. Pendergrass released his autobiography Truly Blessed in 1998. He retired from music in 2006, but performed at the Teddy 25: A Celebration of Life, Hope, & Possibilities to mark the 25th anniversary of his accident and raise money for The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance.
Said friend and collaborator Kenny Gamble “He had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist and as a performing artist. He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans.” Pendergrass’ son, Teddy II, issued a statement which read “To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music.”