Teddy Pendergrass left Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes and became the biggest sex symbol in r&b. The Teddy Bear. Close the Door. Turn Off the Lights. Love T.K.O. He did ladies-only concerts -- no men allowed -- and thousands of women showed up. The man was a phenomenon.

Then in 1982, his Rolls-Royce hit a guardrail on Lincoln Drive in Philadelphia. Spinal cord injury. Paralyzed from the chest down at 31. He spent a year in rehabilitation, and then -- in 1985, at Live Aid -- he returned to the stage in a wheelchair and sang Reach Out and Touch with an audience of millions watching. The voice was still there.

He continued recording and performing. He founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance to help people with spinal cord injuries. He died in 2010 at 59 from complications of colon cancer. The Teddy Bear. Paralyzed at 31. Sang from a wheelchair. The voice was in his soul, not his spine.

Teddy Pendergrass paralyzed at 31. Sang at Live Aid from a wheelchair. Ladies-only concerts. The Teddy Bear. The voice was in his soul.