Peabo Bryson(1951-2026)

Dubbed the ‘King of Balladeers’, R & B singer/songwriter Peabo Bryson was born in Greenville, SC, where he grew up on a farm and sang in church choirs. At the age of fourteen, he joined a local band, Al Freeman and the Upsetters, as a backup singer. By his own admission in later interviews, they were pretty terrible. Two years later, Bryson began his first professional gig with a somewhat better outfit called Mose Dillard and the Tex-Town Display, which toured the U.S., the Caribbean and Vietnam from 1968 to 1973. The group recorded on the Bang record label. Eddie Biscoe, Bang’s chief executive, while not especially impressed with the band, recognised potential in Bryson. He persuaded him to write and perform his own material and signed him to a contract. Having moved to Atlanta, Bryson initially worked as a staff producer. In collaboration with Luther Vandross and Cissy Houston, he released his first album, Peabo, in 1976 on Bang’s subsidiary label, Bullet Records.

In the wake of several minor hits, Bryson signed with Capitol Records in 1977. His next albums, Reaching for the Sky and Crosswinds, both yielded chart toppers (notably "Feel the Fire," "Reaching for the Sky," and "I’m So into You," the latter scoring as a #2 R & B single). In 1979, he toured and recorded with Natalie Cole, resulting in the album We’re the Best of Friends. His next important collaboration was with Roberta Flack on a 1980 concert tour and a subsequent live album featuring more romantic ballads. Three years later, the duo recorded the popular number "Tonight I Celebrate my Love", followed in 1984 by Bryson’s crossover "If Ever You’re in My Arms Again" (#10 in the pop chart and #6 in R & B). Further hit songs included the chart-topping "Show & Tell" in 1989 and duets on the Disney animated features Beauty and the Beast (1991) (title song, with Céline Dion) and Aladdin (1992) ("A Whole New World", with Regina Belle), in 1991 and 1992, respectively. Both won Grammy Awards.

Bryson’s popularity began to decline in the 1990s, though his single contribution to Kenny G ’s 1993 album Breathless, "By the Time This Night Is Over," still helped it to sell in excess of 12 million copies in the U.S.. He released several more albums between 1994 and 2018, but none achieved any significant commercial yield. By that time, Bryson also faced major financial problems, owing tax to the IRS dating back to 1984. This led to the IRS auctioning off some of his prized possessions, including his 1992 Grammy, several gold records, a grand piano and the keys to the city of Miami.

In April 2018, Bryson had a heart attack from which he eventually recovered. On May 31 2026, he suffered a stroke and died two days later in Marietta, Georgia, at the age of 75.