In even more sad news today, R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass died Wednesday.  He was just 59 years old.  He’d reportedly been in poor health during the last year as a result of his paralysis condition.

While details are sketchy at the moment, the Internet (Twitter, to be specific) has been abuzz with initial “RIP” tweets of his death and a few “confirmations” have come through as well. We’re hoping this isn’t true, but as always, watch this space for details.

We’ll update you as more info become available.  I’m seriously hoping this one is just a hoax.

UPDATE: AOL’s Black Voices has confirmed the death.

Pendergrass survived a car crash 28 years ago that left him in a wheelchair. His son says he had a difficult recovery from colon cancer surgery which left him hospitalized in recent months.

Longtime collaborator Kenny Gamble said of Teddy:

“He had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist and as a performing artist. He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans.”

He will be greatly missed.