Teddy Pendergrass Pics

Blues

Soundtrack, Actor/Actress

Teddy

Pendergrass

26 March 1950

Aries

DeReese

Slim

Brown - Dark

Black

Philadelphia, PA

Black

Rhythm and Blues Vocalist

Male

13 January 2010

Philadelphia

Colon Cancer

American

Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade. In 1982, he was severely injured in an auto accident in Philadelphia, resulting in his being paralyzed from the waist down. After his injury, the affable entertainer founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation that helps those with spinal cord injuries. Pendergrass commemorated 25 years of living after his spinal cord injury with star filled event, Teddy 25 - A Celebration of Life at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. His last performance was on a PBS special at Atlantic City's Borgata Casino in November 2008.

R&B

Soul

Elegant

Vocals

11, 1

Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass, Sr. (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Also known by the nicknames Teddy P, TP, or Teddy Bear, Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before embarking on a successful solo career at the end of the decade. He was born to Ida Geraldine Epps and the late Jesse Pendergrass (who was murdered in 1962), who left when Teddy was very young and was never a part of Teddy`s life. He was a student at the old Thomas Edison High School for Boys. However, he dropped out in the 11th grade to go into the music business. His first taste of show business was in Nova Scotia, Canada with a James Brown clone of a musician named Little Royal[citation needed]. Afterwards, Pendergrass left for unknown reasons. According to author Robert Ewell Greene, Teddy Pendergrass was ordained a minister as a youngster. Later he was to become a drummer for a band, and later lead singer. The church was his initiation for talent and eventual success. Pendergrass` career began when he was a drummer for The Cadillacs, which soon merged with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Melvin invited Pendergrass to become the lead singer after he jumped from the rear of a stage and started singing his heart out. Months later the group signed with Gamble & Huff on the then CBS subsidiary Philadelphia International Records in 1972. The Blue Notes had hits such as "I Miss You", "Bad Luck", "Wake Up Everybody", "The Two Million Seller", "If You Don`t Know Me By Now", and many more. Following personality conflicts between Melvin and Pendergrass and a brief stint with Teddy leading a group of Blue Notes[citation needed], Pendergrass launched a solo career and released hit singles like "The More I Get the More I Want", "Close The Door" (also redone by Boyz ll Men in 2004), "I Don`t Love You Anymore", "Turn Off The Lights", and more. Pendergrass was the first African-American singer to sell five platinum albums in a row. He also began his practice of ladies-only concerts, for which he remains well-known[citation needed]. His first solo album was self titled Teddy Pendergrass (1977), followed by Life Is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Live Coast to Coast and Teddy (1979), 1980`s TP and the final Philadelphia International Records album It`s Time For Love (1981). In August 1982, PIR also released "This One`s For You" while TP was recovering. Even in 1983 the album "Heaven Only Knows" was released. This was his last album containing his pre-accident recordings. Ten years after the accident, he recorded a version of "One Shining Moment," the theme for March Madness Basketball on CBS. In 2009, Pendergrass underwent surgery for colon cancer and had difficulty recovering from that disease from which he eventually died on January 13, 2010, at age 59, while hospitalized at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Pendergrass

Thomas Edison High School for Boys

Theodore DeReese Pendergrass

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59

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