Teddy Pendergrass was born on March 26, 1950 in Philadelphia,PA.Teddy was born as Theodore "Teddy" De Reese Pendergrass, he is an American R&B soul singer/songwriter. Pendergrass is also known as teddy P, TP, or Teddy Bear. He was raised by his mother Ida Pendergrass, a God-fearing South Carolina sharecroppers daughter. It was Teddy's mother who discovered his voice when he was only 2 1/2 years old when he began singing in church. At age 6 he was chosen for the All-City Elementary School for Boys Choir. His love for performing grew when he would accompany his mother to work at a Philadelphia Supper Club ( Sciollas) where her would watch the performers ranging from Connie Francis, to Chubby Checker to Bobby Darin. It was at the Supper Club that he also discovered another side of his musical talent; which was drumming. From the time he was thirteen, he could sit and play any rhythm, no matter how complex or fast it was.
Teddy Pendergrass was a student at the old Thomas Edison High School for Boys. He dropped out in the eleventh grade to go into the music business. Teddy Pendergrass was ordained a minister as youngster. Later, he was to become a drummer for a band and later a lead singer. Teddy's desire for a career in music was firmly fixed the nigh he attended a Jackie Wilson concert at Philadelphia's famed Uptown Theatre and watched Wilson's entrance and how he controlled the audience with his performance. In 1968 Teddy was working as Walter in a club called " Edge Hills" in Atlantic City when Little Royal came to perform. Little Royal's drummer, Marvin Jolly, was leaving at the end of the show, so Teddy auditioned and won the job immediately and started touring with Little Royal. Teddy began working as a drummer wherever and whenever possible. His reputation grew and he eventually landed a job with Harold Melvin, the remaining member of the popular local 50's recording do wop called the Blue Notes. In 1969 Teddy was picked for the drummer of the group since they broke up.On March 18, 1982, Teddy's life was changed dramatically and forever when a horrifying auto accident left him paralyzed from the chest down and wheel-chair bound. He spent the next six months in the hospital and in rehab before returning home. Teddy returned to recording the year after his accident and recorded " Love Language". The follow-up to that album was 1985's "Working It Back", which was followed by "Joy" in 1988, "Truly Blessed" in 1990, " A Little More Magic" in 1993.
Teddy Pendergrass is an American R&B singer. Rhythm and Blues ( also known as R&B, R'n'B, or RnB) is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The term was orginally used by record companies to refer to recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy insistent beat" was becoming more popular. The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in the meaning. Starting in the 1960's, after this style of music contributed to the development of "rock and roll", the term R&B became used particularly by white groups to refer to music styles that developed from the incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970's the term "rhythm and blues" was being used as a blanket term to describe soul and funk. Since the 1990s, the "Comtemporary R&B" is now mainly used to refer to a modern version of soul and funk-influenced pop-music.
Teddy Pendergrass was a student at the old Thomas Edison High School for Boys. He dropped out in the eleventh grade to go into the music business. Teddy Pendergrass was ordained a minister as youngster. Later, he was to become a drummer for a band and later a lead singer. Teddy's desire for a career in music was firmly fixed the nigh he attended a Jackie Wilson concert at Philadelphia's famed Uptown Theatre and watched Wilson's entrance and how he controlled the audience with his performance. In 1968 Teddy was working as Walter in a club called " Edge Hills" in Atlantic City when Little Royal came to perform. Little Royal's drummer, Marvin Jolly, was leaving at the end of the show, so Teddy auditioned and won the job immediately and started touring with Little Royal. Teddy began working as a drummer wherever and whenever possible. His reputation grew and he eventually landed a job with Harold Melvin, the remaining member of the popular local 50's recording do wop called the Blue Notes. In 1969 Teddy was picked for the drummer of the group since they broke up.On March 18, 1982, Teddy's life was changed dramatically and forever when a horrifying auto accident left him paralyzed from the chest down and wheel-chair bound. He spent the next six months in the hospital and in rehab before returning home. Teddy returned to recording the year after his accident and recorded " Love Language". The follow-up to that album was 1985's "Working It Back", which was followed by "Joy" in 1988, "Truly Blessed" in 1990, " A Little More Magic" in 1993.
Teddy Pendergrass is an American R&B singer. Rhythm and Blues ( also known as R&B, R'n'B, or RnB) is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The term was orginally used by record companies to refer to recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy insistent beat" was becoming more popular. The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in the meaning. Starting in the 1960's, after this style of music contributed to the development of "rock and roll", the term R&B became used particularly by white groups to refer to music styles that developed from the incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970's the term "rhythm and blues" was being used as a blanket term to describe soul and funk. Since the 1990s, the "Comtemporary R&B" is now mainly used to refer to a modern version of soul and funk-influenced pop-music.
By: Lanee G. Hill
