Teddy Pendergrass Passes Away

Teddy Pendergrass, a singer admired for his bravery in the face of paralysis, has passed away from colon cancer complications. He was 59.

A R&B singer, Pendergrass was paralyzed in a 1982 car accident. He initially rose to fame in the 1970s when he became lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, a group that put out such singles as "If You Don't Know Me by Now" and "I Miss You."

The crooner crashed his Rolls-Royce in Philadelphia, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. He resumed his recording career the next year with the album "Love Language" and returned to the stage, performing from a wheelchair, at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

He started the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance in 1998. It benefits victims of spinal cord injuries.