Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musical fame as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. After leaving the group in 1976, Pendergrass launched a successful solo career under the Philadelphia International label, releasing five consecutive platinum albums (a record for any artist at the time).

In March 1982, a car crash left Pendergrass paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass continued his solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. He died from respiratory failure in January 2010.

Early life

Pendergrass was born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on March 26, 1950, in Kingstree, South Carolina. in the 11th grade to pursue a career in music, recording his first song, "Angel with Muddy Feet". The recording was not commercially successful. He then played drums for several local Philadelphia bands and eventually became the drummer for The Cadillacs, a group unrelated to the better-known Harlem-based act of the same name. In 1970, he was noticed by Blue Notes founder Harold Melvin (1939–1997), who persuaded him to join the group as a drummer. The car hit a guard rail, crossed onto the oncoming lane, and hit two trees. No other vehicles were involved. The impact jammed the doors, trapping Pendergrass and Watson for almost an hour until both were freed.

While Watson walked away from the collision with minor injuries, Pendergrass had a spinal cord injury, leaving him a tetraplegic, paralyzed from the chest down; Pendergrass never walked again.

Later solo career: 1983–2008

Pendergrass received well-wishes from thousands of his fans during his recovery. In August 1982, Philadelphia International released This One's for You, which failed to chart successfully, as did 1983's Heaven Only Knows. Both albums included material Pendergrass had recorded before the crash. The albums completed his contract with Philadelphia International. By the time Pendergrass decided to return to the studio to work on new music, he had struggled to find a recording deal. Eventually signing a contract with Asylum Records and completing physical therapy, Pendergrass released Love Language in 1984. It was his first live performance following the accident. Pendergrass tearfully thanked the audience for keeping him in their well-wishes and then performed the Diana Ross song "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". In 1988, Pendergrass scored his first R&B number-one hit in nearly a decade when the song "Joy", from his album of the same name, was released. A video of the song enjoyed heavy rotation on Black Entertainment Television (BET). It was also his final Hot 100 charted single, peaking at number 77. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA that same year. Pendergrass' voice was also heard on the jingles of a then local Philadelphia radio station, WSNI-FM. He kept recording through the 1990s. One of the singer's last hits was the new jack swing song, "Believe in Love", released in 1994. In 1996, Pendergrass starred alongside Stephanie Mills in the touring production of the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. In 1998, he released his autobiography titled Truly Blessed.

Pendergrass performed at a concert, titled "The Power of Love", at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on February 14, 2002. The concert became the album From Teddy, With Love, which was released on the Razor & Tie record label later that year. It was his second (after Live! Coast to Coast) and final live album. Clips of the concert, in particular his performance of his comeback song "Joy" can be seen on YouTube. In later years, "Wake Up Everybody", on which Pendergrass was lead vocalist on the 1975 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes hit, was covered by a diverse range of acts from Simply Red to Patti LaBelle and was chosen as a rallying cry during the 2004 Presidential campaign by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds to mobilize voters. Additionally, Little Brother, Kanye West, Cam'ron, Twista, Ghostface, Tyrese Gibson, 9th Wonder, DMX and DJ Green Lantern have utilized his solo work.

In 2006, Pendergrass announced his retirement from the music business. In 2007, he briefly returned to performing to participate in Teddy 25: A Celebration of Life, Hope & Possibilities, a 25th anniversary awards ceremony that marked Pendergrass's crash, but also raised money for his charity, The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, and honored those who helped Pendergrass since the accident.

Personal life and death

thumb|Grave of Teddy Pendergrass at [[West Laurel Hill Cemetery]]

Pendergrass had three children: Tisha, LaDonna, and Theodore Jr.

Pendergrass's manager and girlfriend Taazmayia "Taaz" Lang was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in April 1977. The murder remains unsolved, although Philadelphia's Black Mafia has been suspected, as they allegedly resented Lang's control over Pendergrass's lucrative career. who had also danced in his shows. They divorced in 2002.

Pendergrass published his autobiography, Truly Blessed, with Patricia Romanowski in 1998.

In the spring of 2006, Pendergrass met Joan Williams. He proposed to her after four months, and they married in a private ceremony officiated by his pastor, Alyn Waller of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008. On September 6, a formal wedding was celebrated at The Ocean Cliff Resort in Newport, Rhode Island. As members of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, Joan Pendergrass set up The Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church Youth Fund in the name of Pendergrass to provide assistance and a center for Philadelphia's inner city youth.

On June 5, 2009, Pendergrass underwent successful surgery for colon cancer and returned home to recover. A few weeks later, he returned to the hospital with respiratory issues. After seven months, Pendergrass died of respiratory failure on January 13, 2010, with his wife Joan by his side, at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He was 59 years old. Pendergrass' body was interred at the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

As of 2015, there were plans to make a feature film biopic of Pendergrass' life, and Tyrese Gibson was set to star as the late singer. In 2019, Essence Magazine reported that Gibson reached out to Lee Daniels to produce the film.

In 2019, BBC Film made a documentary on Pendergrass's life titled If You Don't Know Me. It was released on Showtime on February 8.

Discography

;Studio albums

  • Teddy Pendergrass (1977)
  • Life Is a Song Worth Singing (1978)
  • Teddy (1979)
  • TP (1980)
  • It's Time for Love (1981)
  • This One's for You (1982)
  • Heaven Only Knows (1983)
  • Love Language (1984)
  • Workin' It Back (1985)
  • Joy (1988)
  • Truly Blessed (1991)
  • A Little More Magic (1993)
  • You and I (1997)
  • This Christmas (I'd Rather Have Love) (1998)

Awards

Grammy Awards

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col" style="width:4em;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:25em;"| Category

! scope="col" style="width:28em;"| Nominated work

! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Result

!

|-

| align="center" | 1979

| Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

| "Close the Door"

|

| style="text-align:center;"|

|-

| align="center" | 1982

| Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

| "I Can't Live Without Your Love"

|

| style="text-align:center;"| In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Pendergrass at No. 42 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

References

  • Official site
  • Teddy Pendergrass at Legacy Recordings
  • "Teddy Pendergrass" – Daily Telegraph obituary, January 14, 2010.