R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass has died in Philadelphia at the age of 59.
Pendergrass was suffering from colon cancer. He underwent surgery eight months ago but didn’t fully recover.In 1982 he spent six months in hospital following a car crash and was paralysed from the waist down as a result of the accident.
Pendergrass was the drummer for The Cadillacs who became Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and enjoyed a massive hit with The Blue Notes ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’, later covered by Simply Red.
In 1977, Teddy Pendergrass released his first solo album, the self-titled ‘Teddy Pendergrass’.
On March 18, 1982, the brakes failed on his Rolls Royce in Germantown, Philadelphia. The car hit a tree. Teddy’s spinal cord was damaged and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
In 1985, he made a surprise appearance at Live Aid in Philadelphia. In 1998, he released his biography ‘Truly Blessed’ and then in 2006 retired from the music industry.
Teddy Pendergrass died today in Bryn Mawr Hospital where he was being treatment for a rare illness related to his paralysis condition.
