Peabo Bryson, the two-time Grammy-winning R&B artist memorable for his work on the hit Disney songs “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole Recent World,” has died. He was 75.
Bryson died days after a representative for the singer announced Sunday that he had suffered a stroke. He also had an enormous heart attack in 2019. In a release confirming Bryson’s death, the representative said Bryson “transitioned peacefully at 5:00 p.m. ET on the evening of Tuesday, June 2, 2026, surrounded by the love of his family and people closest to him.”
“We’re tremendously moved by the outpouring of affection, prayers and support from fans, friends, and colleagues all over the world,” Bryson’s family said in an announcement on Tuesday. “While our hearts are broken, we discover comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and what number of lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit. His legacy and music will survive for generations to come back.”
Born Robert Peapo Bryson on April 13, 1951, in Greenville, South Carolina, he launched his skilled music profession right after highschool.
He toured with Moses Dillard within the late Sixties before happening to release his first album, Peabo, in 1976 and signing with Capitol Records a 12 months later. He moved to Elektra Records in 1984, where he voiced the theme song for the soap opera One Life to Live in 1985, before returning to Capitol just a few years later.
Across his music profession, he released some 20 albums, with songs including If “Ever You’re in My Arms Again,” “Can You Stop the Rain,” “Feel the Fire” and “Tonight, I Have fun My Love,” with Roberta Flack.
Along with several Grammy nominations, Bryson won two Grammys for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Beauty and the Beast” with Céline Dion in 1993 for Beauty and the Beast and for “A Whole Recent World” with Regina Belle in 1994 for Aladdin.
Within the late Nineteen Nineties, Bryson also performed on the U.S. concert tour of The Wiz revival. He released his most up-to-date album, Stand for Love, in 2018 through Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’s Perspective Records.
Bryson is survived by his wife, Tanya Bonaface Bryson, and his two children. Bryson’s family said that a celebration of life and memorial arrangements could be announced at a later date.