When Teddy Pendergrass recently died from colon cancer we lost the kind of performer who presented more than meets the eye.
Typecast as a ladies’ man, a sensual, sexual exponent of a new, polished brand of soul music, Teddy Pendergrass transcended his role.
It was his drumming, not his singing, that landed him a gig with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, the band that put him on the map.
Teddy Pendergrass demonstrated courage and determination after a car accident left him paralyzed from the waist down in 1982.
It will be as a sex symbol he is most widely remembered. But some of us remember him for his talent and his character. Some of us wonder what it was like for Teddy when he tried to sing again after that spinal cord injury and he discovered that the magical edge to his voice was gone.
And when Teddy Pendergrass realized he could no longer stand up he stood taller than ever before.
