I have been away for the last week! I produced an event on Tuesday, attended a conference and produced a series of events from Wednesday thru Friday, went straight to the mountains with my best friends on Friday, and finally made it home on Sunday. With working non-stop and limited access to internet, I have not had the opportunity to write a post to celebrate the life of Teddy Pendergrass. When I found out he passed away – on Twitter of course – my heart skipped a few beats. It’s so sad that so many people, such as Teddy Pendergrass, are not brought into everyday conversation until they pass away. Equally as sad for me is that I knew very little about Teddy beyond his music. I didn’t know that he was a part of the group Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. I did not know he had a car accident in 1982. Before you go saying I should have known because it was 28 years ago, I wasn’t even born then! Neither did I know that he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Confirming that there are so many unknown stories about the artists we all love justifies the purpose of my blog and ignites a drive within me to share so much more about legendary artists.

I grew up listening to Teddy Pendergrass as my parents would play his albums all the time. Very few male artists have made such an impact on music as Teddy P and definitely none from my generation. I’m sure I could break it down to a percentage of African Americans who were born between 1977-1982 and conclude that the majority were conceived to a track sang by Teddy. Yes – his songs are that serious. Teddy had great success with countless hits and memorable tracks such as Joy, Close the Door, Turn off the Lights, You’re My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration, Love T.K.O., The Whole Town’s Laughing at Me and so many others. Only thing I have to hear is the title of the song and I can sing it from beginning to end. Even now, as I’m listening to his music I get chills thinking that this wonderful being has left us to go to a greater place. My prayers go out to his family and survivors.

I had trouble finding a Teddy Pendergrass-only playlist, so I made my own. Click the arrows on either side of the video player to listen to the next or previous track. Enjoy