Teddy Pendergrass cheated death at least once. That was in 1982 when, returning from a basketball game, his Rolls Royce skidded into a barrier and left him in a wheelchair, partially paralyzed. This time he succumbed, according to the Associated Press, of colon cancer. Pendergrass died Wednesday night in Philadelphia, the city in which he was born 59 years ago.


Teddy Pendergrass performing live in London, 1982. (Redferns)

I was working in a record store in the late 1970s when Pendergrass' solo records Teddy and TP, were selling like crazy. And, believe it or not, not only women were buying them. Yes, his charismatic sex appeal and his nick name "Teddy Bear," drew in droves of females — with hits such as "Turn Off the Lights" and "Love TKO" — but men also appreciated his rich, smoky baritone, and the finely crafted melodies by his main songwriters Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. Together with Pendergrass they helped define the Philadelphia Soul sound.

Read more of Tom's Teddy Pendergrass remembrance, see videos and more.