Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese Pendergrass 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. In March 1982, a car crash left Pendergrass paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass continued his successful solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. Pendergrass died from respiratory failure in January 2010.
Early life
Pendergrass was born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on March 26, 1950, in Kingstree, South Carolina. He was the only child of Jesse and Ida Geraldine Pendergrass. Ida suffered six miscarriages before successfully giving birth to Teddy. When Pendergrass was very young, his father left the family. As he grew older, Pendergrass' mother promised him that she would find his father so that they could meet. She fulfilled that promise, and Teddy met his father when he was 11 years old. Not long after, Jesse was stabbed to death at age 47 on June 13, 1962, during an altercation with another man. Pendergrass grew up in the impoverished section of North Philadelphia and often sang at church. He dreamed of being a pastor and got his wish when, at age 10, Pendergrass was ordained a minister. He also took up drums during this time and was a junior deacon of his church.Pendergrass attended Thomas Edison High School for Boys in North Philadelphia. He sang with the Edison Mastersingers. Pendergrass dropped out in the 11th grade to enter the music business, recording his first song "Angel with Muddy Feet". However, the recording was not a commercial success. Pendergrass played drums for several local Philadelphia bands, eventually becoming the drummer of The Cadillacs. In 1970, he was spotted by the Blue Notes' founder, Harold Melvin, who convinced Pendergrass to play drums in the group. However, during a performance, Pendergrass began singing along, and Melvin, impressed by his vocals, made him the lead singer. Before Pendergrass joined the group, the Blue Notes had struggled to find success. This all changed when they landed a recording deal with Philadelphia International Records in 1971, thus beginning Pendergrass's successful collaboration with label founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
Early career
Solo career
Early solo success
In 1977, Pendergrass released his self-titled album, which went platinum on the strength of the disco hit "I Don't Love You Anymore". Its follow-up single, "The Whole Town's Laughing at Me", became a top 20 R&B hit. Although not released as singles, the uptempo album tracks "You Can't Hide from Yourself" and "The More I Get, The More I Want", as well as the ballad "And If I Had" were also hits. The debut album was quickly followed by Life Is a Song Worth Singing, in 1978. That album was even more successful with its singles "Only You" and the classic million selling number 1 R&B hit "Close the Door". The latter song firmly established Pendergrass as the top male sex symbol in soul music. The album's popularity was furthered by the disco hit "Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose", the ballad "It Don't Hurt Now", and the mid-tempo classic "When Somebody Loves You Back". That double platinum number-one R&B triumph was followed up in 1979 by two successes, the albums Teddy, and the live release Live Coast to Coast. Hits off Teddy included the classics "Come Go with Me", the erotic ballad "Turn Off the Lights", and the uptempo album cut "Do Me". With his sex appeal at an all-time high after his 1979 tour, Pendergrass took a more mellow approach on his 1980 album TP. It included the classic number two R&B hit "Love T.K.O.", the Stephanie Mills duet version of "Feel the Fire" and the Ashford & Simpson composition "Is It Still Good to You". Between 1977 and 1981, Pendergrass landed five consecutive platinum albums, which was a then record-setting number for a rhythm and blues artist.Pendergrass's popularity became massive at the end of 1978. With sold-out audiences packing his shows, his manager, Shep Gordon, who was known for his innovative approaches to publicizing his artists, soon noticed that a huge number of his audience consisted of women of all races. Gordon devised a plan for Pendergrass's next tour to play to just female audiences, starting a trend that continues today called "women-only concerts". With four platinum albums and two gold albums, Pendergrass was on his way to being what the media called "the black Elvis", not only in terms of his crossover popularity but also due to him buying a mansion akin to Elvis's Graceland, located just outside his hometown of Philadelphia. By early 1982, Pendergrass was perhaps the leading R&B male artist of his day, equaling the popularity of Marvin Gaye, and surpassing Barry White and all others in the R&B field. In 1980, the Isley Brothers released "Don't Say Goodnight " to compete with Pendergrass's "Turn Off the Lights", which sensed Pendergrass's influence on the quiet storm format of black music.
Car crash
On March 18, 1982, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Lincoln Drive near Rittenhouse Street, Pendergrass was involved in a car crash while driving his new Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit. At the time of the accident, the singer's license had been suspended for unpaid parking tickets. Rumors that alcohol was a factor were later discounted by the police. Pendergrass was reportedly driving Tenika Watson, a transgender nightclub performer whom he had known since the 1970s, to her house. Pendergrass would only say that Watson was a casual acquaintance. It appeared to Watson that the cause of the crash was a mechanical error in the car, and that possibly someone had tampered with the brakes. 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
Pendergrass got 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. The album included the pop ballad "Hold Me", featuring a young Whitney Houston on her first release as a professional artist; the song became a hit rising to the top ten of both the R&B and AC charts and peaking inside the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100; Pendergrass' first appearance in over two years. As a result of that success, Love Language reached number 38 on the Billboard album chart and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.On July 13, 1985, Pendergrass made an emotional return to the stage at the historic Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in front of a live audience of over 100,000, the concert having an estimated 1.5 billion television viewers. 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 ". 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. 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 did a concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on February 14, 2002, titled "The Power of Love". 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 and final live album. Clips of the concert, in particular his performance of his comeback song "Joy" can still 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.