Raw and refined: How Peabo Bryson co-existed in the R&B and Pop worlds

Pop music is polarizing in the Black community. On one hand, we get angry if one of our beloved R&B and soul singers crosses over to make pop music, abandoning the edgy, relatable roots. On the other hand, we get mad when our beloved R&B and soul singers don’t get the recognition of pop artists.

Peabo Bryson was an artist who walked that fine line with ease. Sadly, Bryson’s one-of-a-kind voice was forever silenced on Tuesday. He died at age 75, days after suffering a stroke, according to Variety. While he leaves behind his wife, children, and grandkids, he also leaves behind a legacy of musical versatility that is somewhat understated — and not just because most people and outlets relegate his career to being the man who sang hit ballads for Disney films. Bryson was able to straddle between the soul and pop universes in a way that only a handful of Black male artists (i.e., Michael Jackson, Jeffrey Osborne, James Ingram) were allowed to.

Bryson hailed from South Carolina, with a voice made for raw funk or steamy slow jams. He had the gift of a crystal-clear baritone that could float like a feather in the wind or crawl in the mud with a heft and power that was unmistakably his own. He had a voice that belonged in juke joints and church revivals. To ask him to do pop music, on paper, would be to ask him to contain his instrument. With his first few albums in the late 1970s, Black fans fell in love with Bryson’s voice on dance tracks like “Underground Music” and mid-tempo jams like “Reaching for the Sky.” Soon enough, though, Bryson found a new audience, but without abandoning his core audience.

When Bryson lent his voice to “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” with Roberta Flack in 1983, it was clear he was destined for greatness that transcends Black radio. He was building a reputation for slow jams with “I’m So Into You” and “Feel the Fire,” songs that were made with the intent to elicit a carnal interaction between consenting adults. “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,” the calm, classy declaration to the act of lovemaking itself, sounds tame compared to his previous work. Yet, he never sounds out of place; his voice doesn’t sound like it’s being caged up. That song demonstrated how Bryson’s power could be felt no matter the decibels or the projection of his voice.

In 1983, “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” became Bryson’s first Top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100 — but he wasn’t done yet. The following year, he linked up with “Tonight” producer/composer Michael Masser again for “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again,” another pop ballad that allowed Bryson to combine the restrained devotion of “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” with the deep yearning of “Feel the Fire.” He cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again” when it charted even higher on the Billboard R&B charts at No. 6.

Bryson found another way to enter the homes of millions of Americans: singing the theme to the popular soap opera “One Life to Live.” Although not a charting hit, it brought Bryson’s voice to Black and white viewers alike for five days a week from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.

Bryson found his greatest success in the 1990s. His foundation with his Black audience was as strong as ever, evident with two No. 1 Billboard R&B hits: “Show and Tell” and “Can You Stop the Rain.” Then, he got a call from the Mouse and Disney linked him with pop sensation Celine Dion for the title track of its animated film, “Beauty and the Beast.” He followed that up with a duet with Regine Belle for “A Whole New World,” the love theme of Disney’s “Aladdin.” Both songs were pop smashes, reaching No. 9 and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively, while ushering a new era of Disney dominating the pop charts with soundtrack songs from big names, such as Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (“The Lion King”), and Phil Collins’s “You’ll Be In My Heart” (“Tarzan”).

Disney created a template of Oscar-winning soundtrack songs on Bryson’s back. We don’t get “Let It Go” (“Frozen”) or “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (“Encanto”) without Bryson’s voice being the North Star. He never dimmed that light, working with the likes of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis deep into his 60s, and a tour set to start later this month.

Today, voices like Bryson are scarce on the radio or streaming playlists. Labels don’t know what to do with powerful singers like him anymore. We were lucky to have him for as long as we did, singing simple, steady pop ballads, classy duets with the likes of Belle, Dion, Flack, and Natalie Cole, and sensual late-night cuts. Bryson was as comfortable on adult contemporary formats as he was on the Quiet Storm, and we were all better off because of it.

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