Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) 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 (a record for any artist at the time).
In March 1982, a car crash left Pendergrass paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass continued his solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. He died from respiratory failure in January 2010.
Pendergrass was born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on March 26, 1950, in Kingstree, South Carolina. He was the only child of Jesse and Ida Geraldine (née Epps) Pendergrass. Before his birth, Ida had experienced six miscarriages. When he was still very young, his father left the family. Years later, after his mother had promised to locate him, Pendergrass met his father at the age of 11. Shortly afterward, on June 13, 1962, Jesse Pendergrass was stabbed to death at age 47 during an altercation with another man. Pendergrass was raised in an impoverished area of North Philadelphia and frequently sang in church. He hoped to become a pastor and, according to author Robert Ewell Greene, was ordained a minister at the age of 10. During the same period, he began playing drums and also served as a junior deacon in his church.
Pendergrass attended Thomas Edison High School for Boys in North Philadelphia, where he sang with the Edison Mastersingers. He left school in the 11th grade to pursue a career in music, recording his first song, "Angel with Muddy Feet". The recording was not commercially successful. He then played drums for several local Philadelphia bands and eventually became the drummer for The Cadillacs, a group unrelated to the better-known Harlem-based act of the same name. In 1970, he was noticed by Blue Notes founder Harold Melvin (1939–1997), who persuaded him to join the group as a drummer. During one performance, however, Pendergrass began singing along, and Melvin—impressed by his voice—made him the group's lead singer. Before Pendergrass joined, the Blue Notes had struggled to achieve commercial success. That changed after the group signed with Philadelphia International Records in 1971, beginning Pendergrass's collaboration with label founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes: 1972–1975
In 1972, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes released their first single, the slow, solemn ballad, "I Miss You". The song was originally written for the Dells, but the group passed on it. Noting how Pendergrass sounded like Dells lead singer Marvin Junior, Kenny Gamble decided to build the song with Pendergrass, who was only 21 at the time of the recording. Pendergrass sings much of the song in a raspy baritone voice that would become his trademark. The song also featured Blue Notes member Lloyd Parks singing falsetto in the background and spotlighted Harold Melvin adding in a rap near the end of the song as Pendergrass kept singing, feigning tears. The song, one of Gamble and Huff's most creative productions, became a major rhythm and blues hit and put the Blue Notes on the map. The group's follow-up single, "If You Don't Know Me by Now", brought the group to the mainstream with the song reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, while also reaching number one on the soul singles chart. Like "I Miss You" before it, the song was originally intended for a different artist, fellow Philadelphian native Patti LaBelle and her group Labelle but the group could not record it due to scheduling conflicts. Pendergrass and LaBelle developed a close friendship that would last until Pendergrass's death.
The group rode to fame with several more releases over the years including "The Love I Lost", a song that predated the upcoming disco music scene, the ballad "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon", and socially conscious singles "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck". One of the group's notable singles was their original version of the Philly soul classic "Don't Leave Me This Way", which turned into a disco smash when Motown artist Thelma Houston released her version in 1976. By 1975, Pendergrass and Harold Melvin were at odds, mainly over financial issues and personality conflicts. Despite the fact that Pendergrass sang most of the group's songs, Melvin was controlling the group's finances. At one point, Pendergrass wanted the group to be renamed "Teddy Pendergrass and the Blue Notes" since fans kept mistaking him for Melvin. Pendergrass left the group in 1975, and the Blue Notes struggled with his replacements. They eventually left Philadelphia International and toiled in relative obscurity, until Melvin's death in 1997. As of 2014, a version of the group still tours the old school circuit, performing as Harold Melvin's Blue Notes.
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 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".
Pendergrass followed up his double platinum number-one R&B triumph with two successes in 1979, the albums Teddy (which stayed at number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart for eight weeks and was named the second-biggest R&B album of the year), and the live release Live Coast to Coast. Hits off Teddy included the songs "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".
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". In 1980, the Isley Brothers released "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time for Love)" to compete with Pendergrass's "Turn Off the Lights", which sensed Pendergrass's influence on the quiet storm format of black music.
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. The singer's license had been suspended for unpaid parking tickets, and he had also wrecked a Maserati the previous week. 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. Watson believed the cause of the crash was a mechanical error in the car, and raised the possibility 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.