The legend American R&B/soul singer and songwriter Theodore DeReese “Teddy” Pendergrass, Sr widely known as Teddy Pendergrass passed away on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Pendergrass’s son told the press that his father underwent colon cancer treatment that related to his paralysis condition, eight months ago, but had a difficult recovery.

In 1982, Pendergrass was involved in a car accident when the brake failed. He hit a tree and was injured severely on his spinal cord which caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down.

Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before embarking on a successful solo career at the end of the decade. After the car accident, he spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.” He died at age 59.