found: African American National Biography, accessed September 6, 2014, via Oxford African American Studies Center database:(Pendergrass, Teddy; Theodore DeReese Pendergrass; percussionist, composer / arranger, rhythm and blues, musician / singer; born 26 March 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; drummer, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; officially started his solo career in early 1977, celebrated and critically acclaimed R&B singer with five solo albums (1970s-1980s); on 18 March 1982, a near-fatal car accident in Philadelphia left Pendergrass a quadriplegic with only limited use of his arms; in 1984 restarted his career from a wheelchair, released his gold album Love Language, in 1985 returned to the concert stage; his album Joy (1988) was nominated for a Grammy Award; by the late 2000s, much of his energy was devoted to serving as an advocate for spinal cord injury research and to administering the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance; died 23 January 2010 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States)