 |
Teddy Pendergrass
Keynote Fee : Call For Quote Travels From: CA |
Topics
- Celebrities & Causes
- Disability & Related Conditions
Formats
- Keynote
Speaker Information
Soul music legend Teddy Pendergrass had achieved many a young musician's dream by age 32. A string of hit songs such as "If You Don't Know Me by Now" with The Blue Notes and "Love TKO" as a solo artist had made the "Teddy Bear" a 1970s icon. A near-fatal car accident in 1982 changed that but, as Pendergrass has shown with a series of live performances, his voice and his ability to hold an audience captive are still intact.
In the twenty years that passed between his March 1982 accident and his May 2002 return to the stage, Pendergrass, now 52, never disappeared from the music world. In 1984, he began recording again and had three consecutive gold records. He began to do appearances at award shows and, in 1985, he sang at the Live Aid benefit concert, which was broadcasted in front of an estimated 1.5 billion people. During that time, Pendergrass also began to find his way in various business pursuits and focused on learning his new life, and learning how to live it productively. That new life included learning his limits and accepting his spinal cord injury. Pendergrass never focused his energies on trying to walk again or find a cure. Instead, he focuses on quality of life. While Pendergrass applauds the efforts of scientists and researchers working on cures, he chooses to concentrate on continuing to reach his goals and not direct his energies toward research.
Because his return to the stage represents a personal victory, because of his involvement with programs that will assist others with spinal cord injuries improve the quality of their lives, and because he is a high-profile person with a disability, Pendergrass can't help but be seen by some as a role model. He established the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance based on his belief in the importance of achieving the best quality of life for himself and others who have survived spinal cord injuries.
With a goal of getting the best productivity for people with SCIs, the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance focuses on education and with universities and colleges as well as businesses to help achieve that goal. Another Pendergrass-backed project is the International Talent Agency for People with Disabilities; together with Doug Heir, the president of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, the group works to help artists with spinal cord injuries get a chance at a big break. Pendergrass is also a member of the board of Fore All!, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing disabled persons' participation in sports and recreation. Pendergrass joins fellow board members, including former-President Bush, Senator Bob Dole and actor Christopher Reeve, in a shared mission to improve the quality of life for the more than 56 million disabled Americans.