Teddy Pendergrass

Perhaps it's fitting that music critics often characterized the fervid baritone of soul music icon Teddy Pendergrass, who died from colon cancer on Wednesday at 59, as having the metaphoric power of an earthquake -- rumbling, potent, vital. Two days ago, a catastrophic earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, leaving in its wake incomprehensible tragedy mingled with everyday stories of heroic acts of courage. Pendergrass, whose mainstream commercial career declined in the aftermath of a 1982 spinal cord injury resulting from an automobile accident, spent the last two decades living out his own version of resilience in the face of tragedy.

Mary J. Blige blinked back tears and buried her head in her hands when she recently heard "Need Someone," an emotional ballad off her new album "My Life II ... The Journey Continues (Act 1). " The song, said Blige, is actually an ode to her younger, more troubled self. "From where you stand there's no way to change it, no way to make it make sense and it's lonely there in the spotlight," she sings over lush strings and piano. "Well honey, don't I understand you need someone to love you. " Blige, 40, is revisiting — and comforting — her 23-year-old self for a reason.

When Teddy Pendergrass hit an Atlantic City, N.J., stage in May for his first full concert in 19 years, the feeling for him was almost indescribable. "I really can't explain it other than to say it was the most rewarding feeling I could have gotten," he says in a phone interview from Philadelphia. Of course, he added, "every stage of my career has been rewarding, absolutely the most awesome thing I'd ever experienced. So it was just another episode in my life.

The son and second wife of Teddy Pendergrass are locked in a battle over the late R&B singer's estate. Teddy Pendergrass II and Joan Pendergrass have produced conflicting wills since the singer died in January. The son claims a will from May 2009 names him executor and sole beneficiary. The widow claims a later document on which she signed her name as the singer's attorney gives her control. Attorneys for both sides met with a judge about the case last week. The divide is less about money than the singer's legacy, a lawyer for Joan Pendergrass said.

Teddy Pendergrass speaks mostly in soft, quiet tones. An ability to shout out majestically may be one of his vocal trademarks, but like all great singers, he knows that you can draw a listener in just as readily with a gentle sense of purposefulness.

Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass has been released from a hospital 11 days after being critically injured in a traffic accident, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday. Pendergrass, 36, was released Sunday from Osteopathic Medical Center.

Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, hospitalized for injuries sustained in a van crash, was alert and responsive Friday, an official at Osteopathic Medical Center said. Pendergrass, a paraplegic since a 1982 car accident, was injured Thursday when he crashed his specially equipped van into a utility pole.

*** Teddy Pendergrass, "Truly Blessed," Elektra. There remains in Pendergrass' style a moving sincerity and determination. He co-wrote half of the 10 tracks here, including the title song, a wonderfully churchy ode to optimism and strong faith. The only disappointment is his version of the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," which demands the slow-building, over-the-top soulfulness of an Otis Redding.

Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, partially paralyzed in a 1982 auto crash, was critically injured today when the van he was driving slammed into a telephone pole, a hospital spokesman said. The singer suffered internal bleeding and underwent abdominal surgery to determine the extent of his injuries, said George Hatzfeld, a spokesman for Osteopathic Medical Center of Philadelphia.

Perhaps it's fitting that music critics often characterized the fervid baritone of soul music icon Teddy Pendergrass, who died from colon cancer on Wednesday at 59, as having the metaphoric power of an earthquake -- rumbling, potent, vital. Two days ago, a catastrophic earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, leaving in its wake incomprehensible tragedy mingled with everyday stories of heroic acts of courage. Pendergrass, whose mainstream commercial career declined in the aftermath of a 1982 spinal cord injury resulting from an automobile accident, spent the last two decades living out his own version of resilience in the face of tragedy.

Teddy Pendergrass, the soul singer who combined hyper-romantic love songs with a virile, sexy stage presence to become the quintessential R&B boudoir crooner before a 1982 car accident left him paralyzed, died Wednesday in his native Philadelphia. He was 59. Pendergrass, best known for the sandpaper voice behind the 1972 hit "If You Don't Know Me By Now" while he was with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, had undergone colon cancer surgery last year and had been in declining health ever since, his son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said in a statement.

Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B's reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday. He was 59. The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia, eight months after undergoing colon cancer surgery. Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 accident.

"I want to welcome you all to a wonderful night of love...." Teddy Pendergrass still knows how to set a mood. At the Wiltern Theatre on Thursday, he was a loverman as passionate and convincing as Al Green or Barry White, singing soulful love songs and party tunes that resonated as deeply as ever. That hasn't changed, despite a 1982 car accident that left the Philadelphia-based singer in a wheelchair.

* * * MAXWELL "Now" Columbia Maxwell is a student of the slow-burn school of soul. A spiritual heir to Teddy Pendergrass and Marvin Gaye, he's also adept at blending urban beats with rock's familiar musical signposts. It's worked well: Maxwell has managed to reject contemporary R&B's rigid booty-bump formulas and still notch healthy record sales. On his third album, Maxwell never strains beyond a whisper, drawing listeners in with supple funk moves and bedroom imprecations.

When Teddy Pendergrass hit an Atlantic City, N.J., stage in May for his first full concert in 19 years, the feeling for him was almost indescribable. "I really can't explain it other than to say it was the most rewarding feeling I could have gotten," he says in a phone interview from Philadelphia. Of course, he added, "every stage of my career has been rewarding, absolutely the most awesome thing I'd ever experienced. So it was just another episode in my life.

Teddy Pendergrass speaks mostly in soft, quiet tones. An ability to shout out majestically may be one of his vocal trademarks, but like all great singers, he knows that you can draw a listener in just as readily with a gentle sense of purposefulness.

* * * Keith Washington, "You Make it Easy," Qwest/Warner Bros. Washington is one of R&B's most promising new heartthrobs. On his sophomore album, his easy-going demeanor sometimes makes him seem like just another Armani-wearing wanna-be. But he does deliver the goods on such material as "What It Takes," an attention-grabbing torch song. In the Teddy Pendergrass tradition, Washington is a real love-man for the '90s. New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).