Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B’s reigning sex symbol in the 1970s & ’80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads,later becoming an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59. Mr. Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.” He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair. He later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal chord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site. He gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes on songs including “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” but it was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame. With songs such as “Love T.K.O.,” “Close the Door” and “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” he came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability. His lyrics were never coarse, as those of later male R&B stars would be, but they had a sensual nature that bordered on erotic without being explicit. “Turn Off the Lights” was a tune that perhaps best represented the many moods of Teddy Pendergrass — tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reached its climax. He made women swoon with each note, and his concerts were a testament to that adulation, with infamous stories of women throwing their underwear on stage for his affection.
