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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZPENDERGRASS, Teddy(b 26 March 1950, Philadelphia PA; d 13 January 2010 following surgery for cancer) Sweet soul singer and sex symbol, aka Teddy Bear. He sang in church, went with his mother to the night club where she worked, was a capable drummer at 13. He joined local group the Cadillacs, who became the backing group for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes '69; Melvin re-formed that group with Pendergrass as lead singer and signed with Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International '70; he went solo '76. His singles did not cross over to the pop chart so well because by then the singles market was dominated by disco's beats-to-the-minute, but his albums charted strongly: Teddy Pendergrass '77, Life Is A Song Worth Singing '78, Teddy '79 (at no. 5 his best showing), two-disc Teddy Live! Coast To Coast '79 (with three live sides, one of interview and studio recordings), TP '80, It's Time For Love '81, This One's For You '82 (reissues later on The Right Stuff). His first UK tour was postponed because he was having an affair with the wife of Marvin Gaye, who was touring there for the same promoter; in March '82, a few weeks after his UK tour, he was paralysed from the neck down in a car accident. He came back '84 with Heaven Only Knows on Philadelphia International, which charted much less well; returned to the top 40 LPs on Asylum with Love Language '84, followed by Workin' It Back '85; switched to Elektra for Joy '88 and Truly Blessed '91, A Little More Magic '93. He published a co-written autobiography Truly Blessed in 1998. He also had a top 40 duet hit 'Two Hearts' '81 with Stephanie Mills (b 1957, Brooklyn). Mills starred four years in the Broadway hit The Wiz, but Diana Ross starred in the film because Berry Gordy bought the rights; Mills's hits included no. 6 'Never Knew Love Like This Before' '80, and she recorded 'Hold Me' with young Whitney Houston '84. |