Singer Teddy Pendergrass dies at 59

Teddy Pendergrass, one of the top-selling soul singers of the 1970s and '80s, has died.

Pendergrass, who continued his career after being paralyzed in a horrific car accident in 1982, died Wednesday night (Jan. 13) at a hospital near Philadelphia, according to wire reports. He was 59.

Pendergrass started his career as the drummer for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and eventually became the group's lead singer; he has the lead vocal on the group's hit "If You Don't Know Me By Now." He launched a solo career in 1977 and scored several No. 1 hits on the R&B charts, including "Close the Door" in 1978 and "Joy" in 1988. He was also a five-time Grammy nominee. Pendergrass was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in March 1982 -- the brakes on his Rolls Royce failed and the car hit a guard rail and two trees. His death came eight months after surgery for colon cancer.

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