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Legendary Philly R&B soul singer Teddy Pendergrass dies at 59

Lori Koff's photo
70s Pop Culture Examiner
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes "If You Don't Know Me By Now" perform on Soul Train.
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes "If You Don't Know Me By Now" perform on Soul Train.
Photo credit: 
IMAGE CREDIT: SOUL TRAIN

Legendary Philly R&B/soul singer/songwriter extraordinaire Teddy Pendergrass has passed away at 59, having lost his courageous battle with colon cancer on January 13.

Pendergrass was well known in the early seventies for being the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. He later embarked on an extremely successful solo career.

In 1982, he was involved in an auto accident when the brakes failed on his car, leaving him with a spinal cord injury and paralyzed from the waist down.

After this, he founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, supporting individuals with spinal cord injuries. Through partnerships with existing organizations, the TPA helps people to achieve their maximum potential-- education, housing, productivity and independence.

According to ABC News, he had been hospitalized for months and had undergone surgery for colon cancer.  http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9557400

The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance: http://www.teddypendergrassalliance.org/

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, 70s Pop Culture Examiner

Lori Koff writes about a time period known in popular culture as The Seventies. She suffered through it (survived it, in fact) and is now writing about the Seventies Experience in popular culture on Examiner. Com (citizen journalism at its best!) If you have a cool, bitchen, groovy idea for a...

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