I think most of us that are at least 25 (maybe it'd have to be 30) have heard "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" and thus are at least glancingly familiar with his work.
He's just another part of the powerful R&B movement of the 50s and 60s that began with Motown (which he wasn't a part of) that's fading into the sunset, replaced with a brand of music called R&B that now has neither rhythm nor blues and generally is crap. Back then these guys really knew how to sing and how to compose a solid song. Now...well, they top the charts with the flat-out pop singers because most of their fans are tone deaf.
A quick read through Pendergrass' bio is pretty inspiring - he'd been paraplegic since a 1982 auto accident but rather than let it hold him down, he turned it into an opportunity to help others with similar afflictions, and remained active doing that until 2007. I'm guessing the battle with colon cancer must have begun around then to explain why he suddenly decided to drop out of the music business. _________________ <(: @ :)>
It was so sad to hear that he had passed, such an amazing voice...after the initial success of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, he had a much bigger career as a solo artist. He didn't really cross over as a solo artist but his sales to the black audience were much bigger than they were when he was part of HMBN...I guess my favorite song of his is "Turn off the lights" which I think came out in 1979 on his "Teddy" album.
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