Music legend Teddy “The Velvet Teddy Bear” Pendergrass has died.

The ‘If You Don’t know Me By Now” hitmaker, who was paralyzed from the waist down from a car accident in 1982, passed away in his native Philadelphia after a battle with colon cancer this week.

“To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music,” his son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said in a statement Thursday. Teddy II said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philly. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery,” his son explained.

The soul singer shot to fame in the 1970s as lead singer of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. He later found solo success with bedroom classics like “Close The Door” and “Turn Off The Lights.” Teddy — who began singing in church at the age of 3 – was the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums in the US.

He didn’t tour for nearly 20 years after the car accident which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Teddy P was 59.