Singer Teddy Pendergrass dead at 59
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass died at Pennsylvania's Bryn Mawr Hospital Wednesday night of complications from colon cancer surgery, his son said.
The Philadelphia-born recording artist, who was known for his hits "Turn Off the Lights" and "If You Don't Know Me By Now," was 59, the Philadelphia Inquirer said.
Pendergrass played drums and sang with the band Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, which recorded the popular songs "The Love I Lost," "Yesterday I Had the Blues" and "Wake Up, Everybody," then began his solo career in 1976.
He has the distinction of being the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums, the Inquirer said.
Although Pendergrass was left paralyzed from the waist down after a 1982 car crash, he continued to record through the 1990s.
Producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff described Pendergrass in a joint statement as "one of the greatest artists that the music industry has ever known, and there hasn't been another one since.
"We've lost our voice and we've lost our best friend, but we're thankful for what we had," the statement said. "It was beautiful. He was one of the best."
Biel's group completes Kilimanjaro climb
ARUSHA, Tanzania, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Film stars Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch and their group have completed their climb up Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro, Elizabeth Gore told People.com.
Gore is a United Nations Foundation executive who also participated in the Summit on the Summit trek to raise awareness and funds for global water programs.
Gore said the expedition reached the mountain top Tuesday after six days of hiking.
"I walked over to Jessie and gave her a big hug," Gore told People.com via satellite phone. "The two of us embraced and we just cried. Every single one of us was in absolute tears. The temperature was zero degrees and so many people were struggling ... . People had hurt limbs, people had altitude sickness."
Gore went on to say the hardest part of the trek was the end when the group was faced with "a complete whiteout."
"There was so much snow, we could only see two or three feet in front of us. So we had to line up like a chain to make it to the final point. I'm so proud that every single one of us 12 climbers made it," she said, adding they headed back down almost immediately and reached the base of the mountain Wednesday night.
Sutherland wears a dress on 'Letterman'
NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- TV star Kiefer Sutherland says he wore a dress on Wednesday's edition of "Late Show with David Letterman" in New York because he lost a football-related bet.
Letterman chuckled when he saw Sutherland take the stage wearing a blue-green, print sleeveless wrap dress with a long sleeved undershirt underneath and combat boots on his feet.
"It's, uh, you're doing the remake of 'Beverly Hillbillies?' You're Granny? You're -- what's happening here?" Letterman asked.
"Far worse than that," Sutherland, star of TV's "24," explained, "I lost a bet. Over the weekend, I was so sure New England was gonna win that I told a guy who used to be my friend that if New England lost, I would wear a dress on 'Letterman.'"
"You ride the subway, I'll give you $1,000," Letterman later told the actor. "You get on the subway like that... downtown."
Sutherland laughed and replied: "I have to say, riding the subway would be easier than what I'm going through right now. This, I think, may be the most humiliating moment of my life, and I've had a couple to choose from."
'TiK ToK' No. 1 on the U.S. record chart
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" is No. 1 on the U.S. record chart for a fourth week, Billboard.com reported Thursday.
Coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 is Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," followed by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys's "Empire State of Mind" at No. 3, Iyaz's "Replay" at No. 4 and Owl City's "Fireflies" at No. 5.
Rounding out the top tier are David Guetta's "Sexy Chick" featuring Akon at No. 6, Ke$ha's "Blah Blah Blah" featuring 3OH!3 at No. 7, Young Money's "Bedrock" at No. 8, Rihanna's "Hard" featuring Jeezy at No. 9 and Jay Sean's "Down" featuring Lil Wayne at No. 10.
