Soul star Teddy Pendergrass dies
American rhythm and blues singer Teddy Pendergrass, who was paralysed in a car crash in 1982, has died at the age of 59.
The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died yesterday in a Philadelphia hospital. Pendergrass had undergone colon cancer surgery eight months ago and his son said he struggled to recover.
Pendergrass was lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the Seventies, having hits such as If You Don't Know Me by Now and I Miss You. He went on to have a solo career, singing love ballads in his smooth baritone such as I Don't Love You Anymore. Close the Door, Turn off the Lights and Love TKO.
He crashed his Rolls-Royce in Philadelphia in 1982 and was paralysed from the waist down but resumed his recording career the next year with the album Love Language and returned to the stage by performing from his wheelchair at the Live Aid concert in 1985.
He started the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance in 1998 to benefit victims of spinal cord injuries.
Leon Huff, who wrote and produced many of Pendergrass's hits, recalled the singer's solo debut at a Los Angeles nightclub.
"That night I saw the coming of a superstar," he said. "When Teddy walked out on the stage, he didn't even open his mouth and the place went crazy with screaming females. He was just so dynamic and when he started singing, he just blew them away."
