The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery,” his son said.

“To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,” his son said. “He will live on through his music.”

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 briefly returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.

Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site.

Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950, gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.

In 1971, the group signed a record deal with the legendary writer/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The group released its first single, “I Miss You,” in 1972 and then released “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Gamble remembered Pendergrass fondly and lauded him.

“I think Teddy Pendergrass was really one of a kind of an artist, and his music kind of speaks for him,” Gamble said in an interview early Thursday. “He had such a powerful voice, and he had a great magnetism.”

Pendergrass quit the group in 1975 and embarked on a solo career in 1976. 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 Pendergrass — tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reached its climax.

Pendergrass, the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums, 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.

But his career was derailed by the car accident, Gamble said.

“He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans,” Gamble said.

However, Pendergrass’ career did not end. He continued to sing and recorded several albums, receiving Grammy nominations; perhaps his best-known hit after his crash was the inspirational song “Life is a Song Worth Singing.”

It was 19 years before Pendergrass resumed performing at his own concerts. He made his return on Memorial Day weekend in 2001, with two sold-out shows in Atlantic City, N.J.

Pendergrass is survived by his son, two daughters, his wife, his mother and nine grandchildren.
-Associated Press & ABC News

Ben Ali, founder of the iconic U Street restaurant Ben’s Chili Bowl, died Wednesday evening. He was 82.

Ali, a native of Trinidad, opened Ben’s Chili Bowl with his wife, Virginia, in 1958. The spot has been known for, among other things, being a date night place for comedian Bill Cosby and his wife, and being the only U Street business to last through the 1968 riots. The restaurant is famous for its chili and half-smokes, the latter considered by some to be D.C.’s signature dish.

The restaurant is now run by Ali’s sons, Kamal and Nizam.

In a statement on the restaurant’s Web site, the family said they “want to thank Ben Ali for leading this legacy and allowing us to follow in his dream. We miss you and love you.”

Councilman Kwame Brown, D-At-large, sent out a statement Thursday morning saying Ali was a family friend and inspiration.

“Through the best times and the worst times in our city’s history, Ben was eternally optimistic,” Brown said. “Ben was a civil rights pioneer and the embodiment of entrepreneurial spirit.”

The restaurant expanded last year, adding a more upscale component, Ben’s Next Door. It got a boost of business when President Barack Obama made a visit in January.
-WBJ

Three teenagers have been charged with first-degree murder in Derrion Albert’s beating death.

Silvanus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, and Eric Carson, 16, all of Chicago, were charged as adults ordered held without bond, the Tribune reports.

Prosecutors declared Albert an “innocent bystander” in the fight that led to his death.

Continued

* * * * *
Chicago police are still investigating the gang fight that erupted Thursday in Roseland that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Fenger High School student Derrion Albert.

Albert was killed in a melee near the school that police believe is a continuation of ongoing tensions between Fenger students that are members of rival gangs.

An amateur video of the brawl shows dozens of people punching, kicking and swinging wooden boards in the street. Albert was struck by blows from one of those boards, Fox Chicago reports, and the video obtained by Fox shows a person getting hit with a board and then stomped on after falling to the ground.

As people rush to help the injured person, a voice can be heard on the video yelling, “Derrion, get up!”

What do you mean “When Michael was Cool”?? If you ask me, he was one of the coolest brothers in the game until he passed. If you read into the portrayal of GQ magazine, he was only cool when he had distinguishable characteristics of an African American Man..

What do you think?

Conrad Murray breaks his silence since the passing of Michael Jackson.. What do you think his involvement was??