YELE HAITI & RIP Teddy Pendergrass

REST IN POWER: TEDDY PENDERGRASS | American Soul and R&B icon, Teddy Pendergrass (1950 – 2010), passed Wednesday night, 01.13.10 at the age of 59, after a pro-longed 8-month recovery from colon cancer surgery,  in a hospital in his native Philadelphia with family present.

Pendergrass had been paralyzed from the waist down since a 1982 car accident, though he had returned to recording and occasional performances within 1 year, and launched his non-profit organization, The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence.  DONATE HERE: http://www.teddypendergrassalliance.org/

After performing and recording as a drummer and singer with famed 1960’s Do-Wop group, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Teddy embarked on a solo career in the 1970’s that would make him the 1st black male vocalist in history to record 5 consecutive multi-platinum, multi-Grammy-Award-nominated albums, becoming a legendary ladies’ man and inking his stamp on the Philly Sound, made famous by producers Gamble & Huff.  His hits such as “Life Is A Song Worth Singing” and “When Somebody Loves You Back” are staples in Classic, Soul, R&B, and American music collections the world over.

— Jocelyne Ninneman for Fusicology.com

Get “The Essential Teddy Pendergrass” on Amazon.com

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YELE HAITI: The devastating 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti on 01.12.10 officials fear may leave over 100,000 – 500,000 people dead or severely wounded. Still recovering from the damaging hurricanes of 2008, the unique and struggling Republic of Haiti, as Fusicologists know, is one of the most impactful centers of Soul and Roots music culture.

Grammy-nominated, Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean‘s non-profit organization, Yele, which funds efforts year-round in his home country, has set up a bonafide donation program via their website and via cell phone: Text YELE to 501501 to donate $5

The Haitian Alliance, Inc. is another non-profit organization to which you can donate now via their Transform Haiti website.

Fusicology – Atlanta associate representative, Jodine Dorce, is currently looking for her father and baby sister, who were in Haiti working at their family’s school, and from whom the Dorce family in Atlanta have yet to receive any communication. Help Jodine find her family here.

— Jocelyne Ninneman for Fusicology.com