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Teddy Pendergrass music biography continued...

in church choirs. By the time he was a teen, he was a drummer for a local R&B group called the Cadillacs, and quickly rose to the position of lead singer. Pendergrass joined Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1969, when they invited the Cadillacs to work as backing musicians. Soon Melvin realized how talented Pendergrass was and made him lead vocalist, lending his own sonic signature to such hits as "I Miss You" and "If You Don't Know Me By Now". Clashes with Melvin led to an inevitable split and in 1976 Pendergrass embarked on a successful solo career, beginning with a platinum solo debut that included the chartbusting singles "I Don't Love You Anymore," "You Can't Hide From Yourself," and "The More I Get the More I Want." Around this time, Pendergrass began to institute his infamous "Ladies Only" concerts. His next three albums went gold or platinum: Life Is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Teddy (1979), and Teddy Live (Coast to Coast). The singer received several Grammy nominations during 1977 and 1978, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award and an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978. TP, his fifth solo album, went platinum in the summer of 1980 spawning the singles "Turn Off the Lights," "Come Go With Me," "Shout and Scream," "It's You I Love," and "Can't We Try." It's Time for Love gave Pendergrass another gold album in summer 1981, which included the hit singles "Love TKO" and "I Can't Live Without Your Love."

Pendergrass' life was changed forever in 1982, when a near-fatal car accident left the singer confined to a wheelchair, although his voice was intact. His next album, Love Language, went gold in 1984. Between 1985 and 2004, TP would go on to record 11 moderately successful albums. In 2006, he announced his retirement from the music business. In 2007, Pendergrass briefly returned to performing to participate in Teddy 25: A Celebration of Life, Hope & Possibilities, a 25th anniversary awards ceremony that marked Pendergrass' accident date, and raised money for the talented, enduring musician's charity.