Peabo Bryson has died at age 75. Per TMZ, the Grammy-winning R&B singer passed away on Tuesday evening after suffering a stroke.
The family issued the following statement to TMZ:“With broken hearts and profound sadness, the family of two-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and balladeer, Peabo Bryson, announces his passing.”
It was reported that Bryson, who previously suffered a heart attack in 2019, had a stroke on Sunday. His rep told Variety, “Two-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and balladeer, Peabo Bryson — the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney songs ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘A Whole New World’ — has suffered a stroke and is currently under medical care.”
Aside from his iconic vocal performances forBeauty and the Beast(“Beauty and the Beast” with Celine Dion) andAladdin(“A Whole New World”), Bryson released 21 solo studio albums over his career that spanned 50 years. He also released collaborative projects with Natalie Cole and Roberta Flack.
Bryson’s last album, Stand For Love, was released in 2018. The Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced LP featured collaborations with Chanté Moore and Gary Clark Jr.
In an exclusive interview with Rated R&B, Bryson shared more about the album: “This project started with trust. There’s probably not more than two other people on this planet I would have trusted with this [album] for me than Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.”
He continued, “I knew it was the right thing to do. We set challenges for each other and those challenges were met and superseded in ways that you can only dream about. Their process was a wonderful thing for me … how involved they want you as an artist to be. They aren’t trying to make you into a cookie-cutter image or a projection of themselves. They want you to be you.”
Jimmy Jam also chimed in about the album and working with Bryson. “He’s such a quality artist,” he told Rated R&B. “He’s like that fabric maker who is bringing you the best silk and the best cotton in the highest quality. So when we put those fabrics together and custom make our suits, it’s the finest suit you can buy. We can try to put that same suit on someone else but they’re not going to be able to wear it like he can wear it. Peabo can wear it with so much class and sophistication, which is what he brings to music.”
Jam added, “And we just feel like it’s needed right now. It’s like one of those things you don’t know that you have it until all of a sudden it’s there and you’re like, ‘Whoa. Music hasn’t sounded like this in a while.’ But then there hasn’t been an artist like him. So that’s what it is. It’s a combination.”
Bryson was set to release his final album,Grace, produced by Jam and Lewis, this year, as well as a memoir and tour. “It’s surreal. Most people don’t get to say they’ve had a five-decade career in anything, let alone music. But what makes it even more special is that I almost didn’t make it to see this milestone,” Bryson said.
“The Golden Touch Tour is a celebration — of survival, of 50 years of music, and of the incredible fans who have supported me through it all. We’ll span my entire career, but with a new energy that comes from knowing how precious each performance really is.”
Bryson is survived by his wife, daughter, son and three grandchildren.