His initial rise to stardom occurred under tutelage of producer's Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff on the then CBS subsidiary Philadelphia International in 1970. The Blue Notes had hits such as "I Miss You," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody," the two million seller "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and many more. Following personality conflicts between Melvin and Pendergrass, Pendergrass launched a solo career and released hit singles like "The More I Get the More I Want," "Close the Door," "I Don't Love You Anymore," "Turn Off the Lights" and others.
His first solo album was self titled Teddy Pendergrass (1977), followed by Life is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Live! Coast to Coast and Teddy (1979), 1980's TP and the final Philadelphia International Records album It's Time for Love (1981). He also sang a duet with Whitney Houston on "Hold Me," from her self-titled debut album.
Teddy Pendergrass started singing gospel music in Philadelphia churches, becoming an ordained minister at ten years old. While attending public school, he sang in the citywide McIntyre Elementary School Choir and in the All-City Stetson Junior High School Choir. A self-taught drummer, Pendergrass had a teen pop vocal group when he was 15.
By his late teens, Pendergrass was a drummer for local vocal group the Cadillacs. In the late 60s, the Cadillacs merged with another more-established group, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In 1970, when the Blue Notes broke up, Melvin, now aware of Pendergrass' vocal prowess, asked him to take the lead singer spot. It's no secret that Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff wanted Marvin Junior of the Dells for their Philadelphia International Records roster. Since the Dells were signed to Chess, they were unavailable. When the gruff'n'ready vocals of Pendergrass came their way, they eagerly signed the group.
Beginning with "I Miss You," a steady stream of hit singles flowed from the collaboration of Pendergrass and Gamble & Huff: "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "The Love I Lost," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody" (#1 R&B for two weeks in 1976), and two gold albums, To Be True and Wake Up Everybody.
Unfortunately, the more success the group had, the more friction developed between Melvin and Pendergrass. Despite the revised billing of the group, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass, Pendergrass felt that he wasn't getting enough recognition. Around 1976, Pendergrass left Melvin's Blue Notes and formed his own Blue Notes, featuring Teddy Pendergrass. Briefly, there was some confusion as to which Blue Notes was which. The resolution came when Pendergrass disbanded his Blue Notes in favor of a solo career and Melvin's group signed a recording contract with Source Records, distributed through ABC Records, scoring a hit with "I Want to Be Your Lover."
Pendergrass signed a new contract with Philadelphia International Records sometime between late 1976 and early 1977. He burst back on the scene with Teddy Pendergrass, a platinum solo debut that included the top-notch singles "I Don't Love You Anymore," "You Can't Hide From Yourself," and "The More I Get the More I Want." Around this time, Pendergrass began to institute his infamous "Ladies Only" concerts. His next three albums went gold or platinum: Life Is a Song Worth Singing, Teddy, and Live! Coast to Coast. The hit single "Close the Door" was used in the film Soup for One, where Pendergrass had a minor role.
The singer received several Grammy nominations during 1977 and 1978, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award, an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978, and awards from Ebony magazine and the NAACP. He was also in consideration for the lead in the movie biopic The Otis Redding Story. The '70s ended, but Pendergrass kept racking up the hits. TP, his fifth solo album, went platinum in the summer of 1980 off the singles "Turn Off the Lights," "Come Go With Me," "Shout and Scream," "It's You I Love," and "Can't We Try." It's Time for Love gave Pendergrass another gold album in summer 1981, which included the hit singles "Love TKO" and "I Can't Live Without Your Love." However in the UK chart success was limited to a handful of singles peaking just short of the top 40. Amazingly "Love TKO" failed to even grace the top 100.
A 1982 car accident left Pendergrass paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair-bound. After almost a year of physical therapy and counseling, Pendergrass returned to the recording scene, signing a contract with Elektra/Asylum in 1983. His ninth solo album, his Elektra/Asylum debut, Love Language went gold the spring of 1984. Philadelphia International issued two albums of unreleased tracks, This One's for You (1982) and Heaven Only Knows (1983). Other albums included Workin' It Back (1985), Joy (1988, whose title track stayed at #1 in the R&B charts for two weeks), and A Little More Magic (1993). The latter half of '90s found Pendergrass recording for the Surefire/Wind Up label. Truly Blessed (the name of an 1991 Elektra album) is the title of the autobiography Pendergrass co-authored with Patricia Romanowski.
Pendergrass passed away at age 59 on January 13, 2010 from complications following surgery for colon cancer.
Life Is A Song Worth Singing
Teddy Pendergrass Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why don't you, sing it?
Life is a song worth singing
Why don't you, sing it?
You hold the key in the palm of your hand, use it
Don't blame your life on the master plan, change it
To decide what to do with your life
You're a fool if you think you're helpless
You control what you do with your life
Life is a song worth singing
Why don't you, sing it?
Life is a song worth singing
Why don't you, sing it?
Don't like the way you're living, too bad
Can't change your life 'cause it's out of your hands, so sad
So you sit on your pants and holler
'Cause the world ain't been treating you right
Don't you know you contain the power
To control destiny with your mind
You control what you do with your life
Hey, hey, hey, hey
You're the fool if you think you're helpless
Can't change your life 'cause it's out of your hands, so sad, no
You got the power, use it, use it
You got to control destiny with your mind
Right here, right here, right here
You decide what to do with your life, well, well
Life is a song worth singing
The lyrics of Teddy Pendergrass's song 'Life Is A Song Worth Singing' are an inspirational message for anyone feeling helpless or stuck in life. The song argues that individuals have the power to control their life's direction and should sing their own unique song. The song is eponymously named after his 1978 album and was released on the same year.
The chorus of the song, "Life is a song worth singing, why don't you sing it?" is repeated four times, emphasizing a need for listeners to take action and embrace their lives. Pendergrass sings that we hold the key to our own happiness and success in the palm of our hand, meaning that it is up to us to make the best of our situation. He encourages listeners to take charge of their life and not to blame fate or destiny for their lives.
Pendergrass contends that we are in control of our lives and are capable of making positive changes. He sings, "You're a fool if you think you're helpless, You control what you do with your life." He suggests that everyone has the power to change their destiny and implies that it is their responsibility to do so. The song draws inspiration from gospel music, and Pendergrass's soulful voice makes this song all the more powerful.
Line by Line Meaning
Life is a song worth singing
Life is a valuable experience that is worth living to the fullest.
Why don't you, sing it?
Encouragement to enjoy life to the fullest.
You hold the key in the palm of your hand, use it
You are responsible for your life and have control over it, so make use of it.
Don't blame your life on the master plan, change it
You can change your life and create your own destiny rather than blaming external factors.
Only you generate the power
You have the ability to make choices and take action in your own life.
To decide what to do with your life
Your life's direction is up to you, and only you can choose what you want to do with it.
You're a fool if you think you're helpless
Feeling helpless about your life is not productive, and it's important to realize that you have the power to change it.
Don't like the way you're living, too bad
Complaining about your current life situation rather than taking action to change it won't accomplish anything.
Can't change your life 'cause it's out of your hands, so sad
Feeling like your life is out of your control is disempowering and not true, as you have the power to make choices and take action.
So you sit on your pants and holler
Instead of taking action, some people just complain about their life situation.
Cause the world ain't been treating you right
Some people may feel like they are victims of the world, but that mindset won't help them improve their lives.
Don't you know you contain the power
It's important to recognize your own ability to make changes in your life.
To control destiny with your mind
Your mindset can affect the direction of your life and help you create the future you want.
Right here, right here, right here
The power to make changes in your life is within you right now.
You got the power, use it, use it
The message is encouraging people to take control of their lives, as they have the power to make changes and improve their situation.
You decide what to do with your life, well, well
Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what you want to do with your life and how you want to live it.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Linda Creed, Thom Bell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kathy Dantony
MAGNIFIQUE TEDDY💋💋🙏❤💚💙💜
Rosi Schmid
Tell it like it is teddy ❤❤❤❤❤
Ariel Jennings
It's about time youtube has a love button. I would totally be using it for this song.
Helio Graph
26/03 Happy birthday teddy thank you for all these beautiful songs that make us happy RIP 😥
Valerie Chapman
Teddy Pendergrass. - Life is a song worth singing.
He’s got such a lovely way of expressing himself through his music. He sings this with his usual passion of expressing himself.
Songs can certainly influence how we feel about Life.
There’s nothing like, I think so anyway, of expressing your feelings about living our lives as we do. Especially now coping with life this present time is very challenging. It’s great that we’re starting to Live our lives as best we can through these uncertain times. Music certainly is helping me to overcome stress and fear of the unknown. …. Keep on listening to expressive music like Teddy sings about. Beautifully done ✅
Lena Chavez
EVERYONE OR EVERYBODY HAS THEIR SIDE TO THEIR LIVES SOME GOOD SOME COULD DO BETTER. IT IS WORTH LIVING
mous taf
Teddy the legend 🔥
Besorah Gospel
Life is a song worth sing, why dont you sing it. If you dont like it, why dont you chang it! That's real good news. You can change it for the better.
Liz Pedano
Philly in the house ...
saj8
This song should have been the main theme for the first Equalizer movie.