Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features backup vocalist Bernard Fowler.
Bernard Fowler stepped into the world of the Rolling Stones when he was asked to sing background vocals on Mick Jagger...
Bernard Fowler stepped into the world of the Rolling Stones when he was asked to sing background vocals on Mick Jagger...
- 3/16/2022
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
“The Sound of Philadelphia,” a documentary on the 1970s “Philly Soul” sound and its masterminds Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, is coming from Warner Music Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music, and Imagine Documentaries, in partnership with Jigsaw Productions, the companies announced on Wednesday. The lushly orchestrated but soulful sound — exemplified by songs like “Love Train” by the O’Jays, “If You Don’t Know Me Now” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul, and “Tsop” by Mfsb and the Three Degrees – famously known for its use as the Soul Train theme song.dominated U.S. radio in the mid-1970s and influenced all of the R&b that has followed, perhaps most immediately with David Bowie’s “Young Americans” album, and most recently with Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Soul Sonic.
The Oscar and Emmy award-winning executive producer Alex Gibney has signed on to the project,...
The Oscar and Emmy award-winning executive producer Alex Gibney has signed on to the project,...
- 2/2/2022
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
Silk Sonic is Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s lavish love letter to Seventies soul music, particularly post-What’s Going On Motown and the sumptuous, string-bathed Philadelphia sound of greats like the Stylistics, the Delfonics, and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. They created A Night With Silk Sonic during Covid quarantine, as chronicled in their recent Rolling Stone cover story, giving the famously obsessive Mars all the time in the world to fixate on getting every period detail perfect. The pair hunted down old drum magazines to make sure...
- 11/12/2021
- by Jon Dolan
- Rollingstone.com
The director of the new documentary about Anthony Bourdain, Roadrunner, has shared a massive playlist containing some of the late culinary journeyman’s favorite music.
The playlist fittingly starts with the Modern Lovers classic “Roadrunner” and goes on to feature an array of selections from artists like the Beach Boys, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, the Stooges, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Marvin Gaye, Rosa Yemen, Joy Division, the Velvet Underground, Hank Williams, Parliament-Funkadelic, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and Bob Dylan.
Roadrunner director Morgan Neville said of the playlist,...
The playlist fittingly starts with the Modern Lovers classic “Roadrunner” and goes on to feature an array of selections from artists like the Beach Boys, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, the Stooges, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Marvin Gaye, Rosa Yemen, Joy Division, the Velvet Underground, Hank Williams, Parliament-Funkadelic, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and Bob Dylan.
Roadrunner director Morgan Neville said of the playlist,...
- 7/22/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
“When the Time Is Right” manages to be both nonchalant and agitated at the same time. Producer Cody Currie lays out a series of contrasts — between the stubby, stabbing electric piano and the marauding bass, between a stern, slapping cymbal and a stream of hurrying, rat-a-tat percussion — over a driving rhythm. The result is freeing for dancers, who can choose to align their movements with either the calmer or the more frenetic elements in Currie’s track.
Currie, who moved from the U.K. to Berlin two years ago and...
Currie, who moved from the U.K. to Berlin two years ago and...
- 1/29/2021
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Philadelphia International Records, the celebrated label behind the “Philly Soul” sound and acts like the O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Patti Labelle and more, has announced a year-long campaign to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The campaign is a joint effort with Legacy Recordings and Warner Chappell Music, and, per a press release, it will comprise a “series of exclusive partnerships, product and content releases, artist initiatives and much more.” To kick things off, producer/DJ Eric Kupper has shared a new remix of one of Philadelphia International’s most enduring hits: McFadden and Whitehead’s 1979 track,...
The campaign is a joint effort with Legacy Recordings and Warner Chappell Music, and, per a press release, it will comprise a “series of exclusive partnerships, product and content releases, artist initiatives and much more.” To kick things off, producer/DJ Eric Kupper has shared a new remix of one of Philadelphia International’s most enduring hits: McFadden and Whitehead’s 1979 track,...
- 1/25/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
The second night of “The Voice” battles aired on Tuesday, with Blake Shelton throwing his artists Jim Ranger and John Sullivan a challenge by assigning them a song from their superstar mentor, Kane Brown. Talk about pressure! The other coaches’ advisors this season are Julia Michaels (Team Gwen Stefani), Miguel (Team John Legend) and Leon Bridges (Team Kelly Clarkson). After each battle pairing, the coach picked a winner and then had to decide whether to “save” the other contestant, thereby sending them to the four-way knockout. Other coaches could also chime in with their “steal” buttons if they wanted to scoop up the at-risk artist. So how did it all play out?
SEEEverything to know about ‘The Voice’ Season 19
Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Voice” recap of Season 19, Episode 7 to find out what happened Tuesday, November 10 at 8:00 p.m. Et/Pt. Then be sure to sound off in the...
SEEEverything to know about ‘The Voice’ Season 19
Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Voice” recap of Season 19, Episode 7 to find out what happened Tuesday, November 10 at 8:00 p.m. Et/Pt. Then be sure to sound off in the...
- 11/11/2020
- by Denton Davidson and Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Anthony Hamilton tries to rekindle a failed romance — over a flip of Rick James and Teena Marie’s classic ballad “Fire and Desire” — in the misty-eyed “Back Together.”
Hamilton has long possessed one of R&b’s great voices; some days, it seems like he’s the last vestige of a vital southern soul tradition that persisted from Otis Redding through Jodeci but now seems nearly extinct. Hamilton’s power is on full display in “Back Together,” especially during the chorus, which is grainy and graceful and pleading in all the right ways.
Hamilton has long possessed one of R&b’s great voices; some days, it seems like he’s the last vestige of a vital southern soul tradition that persisted from Otis Redding through Jodeci but now seems nearly extinct. Hamilton’s power is on full display in “Back Together,” especially during the chorus, which is grainy and graceful and pleading in all the right ways.
- 5/15/2020
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Welcome to this week’s Nxt UK review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have three matches, which is one more than two. Wow! Johnny Weir was on The Masked Singer. Wow! You’re about to read my writing. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! What’re you, crazy? Why should you have to suffer? Okay, let’s check in with the WWE’s European brand and see if the Power Rangers are gonna be there.
Match #1: Ligero def. Oliver Carter The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In the final moments of an opening contest between two purely explosive athletes, Ligero glided between the ropes to blast Oliver Carter with a stunner. He then followed up with a superkick kick and the C4L for the victory over the charismatic up-and-comer.
My Opinion: 3 out of 5 – This worked out pretty well for a short one. These guys would do well on 205 Live,...
Match #1: Ligero def. Oliver Carter The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In the final moments of an opening contest between two purely explosive athletes, Ligero glided between the ropes to blast Oliver Carter with a stunner. He then followed up with a superkick kick and the C4L for the victory over the charismatic up-and-comer.
My Opinion: 3 out of 5 – This worked out pretty well for a short one. These guys would do well on 205 Live,...
- 9/26/2019
- by Nathan Favel
- Nerdly
American singer Tyrese Gibson will star as late singer-songwriter Teddy Pendergrass in a biopic. Pendergrass broke out in the early 1970s as the lead singer of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, and became a massive success as a RandB solo artist with five consecutive platinum albums, reports variety.com. He suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1982 traffic accident that left him a quadriplegic, learned how to sing again and returned to perform at the Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium in London in 1985. Pendergrass continued his solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. He died of cancer in 2010.
Warner Bros. has roped in Little Marvin to write the screenplay. Teddy Pendergrass' widow, Joan Pendergrass, is an executive producer. "I am honoured to take this journey... this is the role that I feel I was born to play," Gibson said.?
Gibson added, "Teddy Pendergrass embraced me and before he...
Warner Bros. has roped in Little Marvin to write the screenplay. Teddy Pendergrass' widow, Joan Pendergrass, is an executive producer. "I am honoured to take this journey... this is the role that I feel I was born to play," Gibson said.?
Gibson added, "Teddy Pendergrass embraced me and before he...
- 3/1/2019
- GlamSham
Tyrese Gibson will star as singer-songwriter Teddy Pendergrass in a biopic set up with Warner Bros., which has acquired the life rights to the late singer.
Pendergrass broke out in the early 1970s as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and became a massive success as an R&B solo artist with five consecutive platinum albums. He suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1982 traffic accident that left him a quadriplegic, learned how to sing again and returned to perform at the Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium in London in 1985.
Pendergrass continued his solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. He died of cancer in 2010.
Gibson will also produce with his Voltron Pictures with “Empire” co-creator and executive producer Lee Daniels and Donald De Line through De Line Pictures. Warner Bros. has hired Little Marvin (creator of Amazon’s upcoming “Them”) to write the screenplay. Teddy Pendergrass’ widow,...
Pendergrass broke out in the early 1970s as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and became a massive success as an R&B solo artist with five consecutive platinum albums. He suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1982 traffic accident that left him a quadriplegic, learned how to sing again and returned to perform at the Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium in London in 1985.
Pendergrass continued his solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. He died of cancer in 2010.
Gibson will also produce with his Voltron Pictures with “Empire” co-creator and executive producer Lee Daniels and Donald De Line through De Line Pictures. Warner Bros. has hired Little Marvin (creator of Amazon’s upcoming “Them”) to write the screenplay. Teddy Pendergrass’ widow,...
- 3/1/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Warner Bros. has acquired the life rights of Teddy Pendergrass and will produce a biopic with Tyrese Gibson to star as the R&B legend.
Donald De Line (“Ready Player One”) will produce through his De Line Pictures studio banner, along with Lee Daniels and Gibson via his Voltron Pictures. The studio has also tapped Little Marvin, creator of Amazon’s upcoming event series “Them,” to write the screenplay, which will chronicle the amazing and tumultuous life journey of one of the greatest R&B performers of all time.
Teddy Pendergrass’ widow, Joan Pendergrass, is an executive producer.
“I am honored to take this journey. This is the role that I feel I was born to play,” Gibson said in a statement. “Teddy Pendergrass embraced me and before he passed put the responsibility on my shoulders to tell his story,” commented Gibson. “Being here in this time and in this...
Donald De Line (“Ready Player One”) will produce through his De Line Pictures studio banner, along with Lee Daniels and Gibson via his Voltron Pictures. The studio has also tapped Little Marvin, creator of Amazon’s upcoming event series “Them,” to write the screenplay, which will chronicle the amazing and tumultuous life journey of one of the greatest R&B performers of all time.
Teddy Pendergrass’ widow, Joan Pendergrass, is an executive producer.
“I am honored to take this journey. This is the role that I feel I was born to play,” Gibson said in a statement. “Teddy Pendergrass embraced me and before he passed put the responsibility on my shoulders to tell his story,” commented Gibson. “Being here in this time and in this...
- 3/1/2019
- by Trey Williams
- The Wrap
Warner Bros Pictures has acquired the life rights of iconic Philadelphia-born R&B singer-songwriter Teddy Pendergrass, a movie project that has Fast & Furious actor Tyrese Gibson set to star in the lead role.
Donald De Line (Ready Player One) will produce via his De Line Pictures studio banner, along with Lee Daniels, and Gibson via his Voltron Pictures. The studio has also tapped Little Marvin (creator of Amazon’s upcoming event series Them) to pen the screenplay. Pendergrass’ widow, Joan Pendergrass, is an executive producer.
Born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on March 26, 1950, Teddy was raised by Ida Geraldine Pendergrass, a single mother whose husband, Jesse, left the family while Teddy was a young child. Shortly after meeting his father for the first time, Jesse was stabbed to death in 1962 when Teddy was 11 years old.
In the early 1970s, Pendergrass rose to fame as the lead singer...
Donald De Line (Ready Player One) will produce via his De Line Pictures studio banner, along with Lee Daniels, and Gibson via his Voltron Pictures. The studio has also tapped Little Marvin (creator of Amazon’s upcoming event series Them) to pen the screenplay. Pendergrass’ widow, Joan Pendergrass, is an executive producer.
Born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on March 26, 1950, Teddy was raised by Ida Geraldine Pendergrass, a single mother whose husband, Jesse, left the family while Teddy was a young child. Shortly after meeting his father for the first time, Jesse was stabbed to death in 1962 when Teddy was 11 years old.
In the early 1970s, Pendergrass rose to fame as the lead singer...
- 3/1/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Teddy Pendergrass’ voice was astounding, muscular enough to lift cars and crack granite. When paired with the elite writers, arrangers and instrumentalists at Philadelphia International Records in the Seventies, the resulting music was often magnificent. Popular, too: Pendergrass released a platinum-certified LP every year between 1977 and 1980.
But thanks to the partially segregated way that music is made, marketed and consumed in America, the pop mainstream treated Pendergrass, who died in 2010, with relative indifference. He only cracked the Top 40 once, and he went unrecognized by most critics at the time — you...
But thanks to the partially segregated way that music is made, marketed and consumed in America, the pop mainstream treated Pendergrass, who died in 2010, with relative indifference. He only cracked the Top 40 once, and he went unrecognized by most critics at the time — you...
- 2/27/2019
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
This documentary celebrates the singer’s remarkable return to the stage after a car accident but fails to illuminate the darker corners of the world he lived in
You would need a heart of stone to hear the late soul singer Teddy Pendergrass without being thrilled – or hear of his personal ordeal without being moved. This documentary tells his story respectfully and in detail, but something doesn’t quite work.
Having started with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Pendergrass left that band in 1977 and embarked on a staggering solo career, earning a string of platinum discs: an impossibly handsome, virile man with a rich and sensuous voice. Then a car accident in 1982 left him quadriplegic. A therapist talked him out of ending his own life, helped by his children and his formidable churchgoing mother, and Pendergrass came back with more hit records and a moving appearance at Live Aid in Philadelphia,...
You would need a heart of stone to hear the late soul singer Teddy Pendergrass without being thrilled – or hear of his personal ordeal without being moved. This documentary tells his story respectfully and in detail, but something doesn’t quite work.
Having started with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Pendergrass left that band in 1977 and embarked on a staggering solo career, earning a string of platinum discs: an impossibly handsome, virile man with a rich and sensuous voice. Then a car accident in 1982 left him quadriplegic. A therapist talked him out of ending his own life, helped by his children and his formidable churchgoing mother, and Pendergrass came back with more hit records and a moving appearance at Live Aid in Philadelphia,...
- 2/22/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A new documentary about seminal soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, If You Don’t Know Me, will premiere February 8th at 9 p.m. Et/Pt on Showtime.
Olivia Lichtenstein directed the film, which will feature rare archival footage of Pendergrass, as well as interviews with the singer’s friends, family and music industry colleagues like Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Pendergrass’ famed former manager, Shep Gordon, served as one of the film’s executive producers.
If You Don’t Know Me will chronicle Pendergrass’ entire career, from his childhood in Philadelphia...
Olivia Lichtenstein directed the film, which will feature rare archival footage of Pendergrass, as well as interviews with the singer’s friends, family and music industry colleagues like Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Pendergrass’ famed former manager, Shep Gordon, served as one of the film’s executive producers.
If You Don’t Know Me will chronicle Pendergrass’ entire career, from his childhood in Philadelphia...
- 2/6/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Born into a gang war zone in South Philly, Teddy Pendergrass would emerge as the king of the neighborhood. Guys wanted to be him, girls wanted to sleep with him, and everybody wanted to be in business with him. For all the things he did wrong, he did make several smart choices including hiring “super mensch” rock-n-roll manager Shep Gordon who helped transition Pendergrass from a star on the black R&B circuit with an informal economy into a superstar performing sensual “woman’s only” shows.
Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me is a nearly definitive biography that doesn’t shy away from the darker moments in his career as the soul singer starts to develop his voice. Told in part through 60 audio tapes that provide a first-hand account of growing up, being raised by a single mother, avoiding gangs in the neighborhood, and finding inspiration in live...
Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me is a nearly definitive biography that doesn’t shy away from the darker moments in his career as the soul singer starts to develop his voice. Told in part through 60 audio tapes that provide a first-hand account of growing up, being raised by a single mother, avoiding gangs in the neighborhood, and finding inspiration in live...
- 11/10/2018
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
“Teddy Pendergrass – If You Don’t Know Me,” the upcoming feature documentary that tells the tumultuous life story of the R&B and soul legend, will go out on Showtime in the U.S. and Sky Arts and the BBC in the U.K., where Moviehouse will also handle a theatrical release.
The film will premiere at the Philadelphia Film Festival on Friday as part of a festival run that includes Doc NYC and Sound Unseen in Minneapolis. An exclusive first-look can be seen below.
Producer and director Olivia Lichtenstein made the film through U.K.-based factual TV and film banner Storyvault Films. It came about after she watched watching “Supermensch,” Mike Myers’ movie about Hollywood power player Shep Gordon, who was also Pendergrass’ manager. “I called Shep and said, ‘People don’t remember Teddy the way they ought to, and I have to make this film,’ and Shep said,...
The film will premiere at the Philadelphia Film Festival on Friday as part of a festival run that includes Doc NYC and Sound Unseen in Minneapolis. An exclusive first-look can be seen below.
Producer and director Olivia Lichtenstein made the film through U.K.-based factual TV and film banner Storyvault Films. It came about after she watched watching “Supermensch,” Mike Myers’ movie about Hollywood power player Shep Gordon, who was also Pendergrass’ manager. “I called Shep and said, ‘People don’t remember Teddy the way they ought to, and I have to make this film,’ and Shep said,...
- 10/23/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Don Cornelius isn't getting the credit he deserves for "creating" the biggest music stars of the 70s -- at least according to Cuba Gooding Senior ... who got his big break on "Soul Train." Long before CG Jr. was shouting, "Show me the money" -- Gooding Sr. and his group, the Main Ingredient, were singing "Everybody Plays the Fool" on "Soul Train" in '73 (below).Gooding tells us groups like The Temptations, The Stylistics, and Harold Melvin...
- 2/4/2012
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
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