Peabo Bryson, the Grammy-winning R&B singer whose voice carried through Disney favorites and adult-contemporary radio for decades, died Tuesday in Marietta, Georgia, at age 75. A representative said he suffered a stroke three days before his death and transitioned peacefully at 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
For many listeners, Bryson was more than a familiar name. He was the man behind “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again,” “Can You Stop the Rain,” “Feel the Fire” and “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,” his duet with Roberta Flack, songs that kept his peabo bryson voice of love reputation alive across generations. He also won two Grammys for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal, and later added another for “Beauty and the Beast” with Céline Dion in 1993 and for “A Whole New World” with Regina Belle in 1994.
Born Robert Peapo Bryson on April 13, 1951, in Greenville, South Carolina, he launched his professional music career right after high school and toured with Moses Dillard in the late 1960s. His first album, “Peabo,” arrived in 1976, followed by a run that took him from Capitol Records in 1977 to Elektra Records in 1984 and back to Capitol a few years later. He also voiced the theme song for the soap opera “One Life to Live” in 1985 and performed on the U.S. concert tour of “The Wiz” revival in the late 1990s.
Bryson remained active late into his career, releasing his most recent album, “Stand for Love,” in 2018 through Perspective Records. He was known for recording about 20 albums in all, a catalog broad enough to reach pop, R&B and family audiences alike. That range helps explain why his death lands as more than the loss of a chart regular; it closes the career of a singer whose most recognizable work became part of the mainstream soundtrack.
There was also a harder edge to the final stretch of his life. His representative said he died peacefully after the stroke, but Bryson had already survived a massive heart attack in 2019, a reminder that the last years of his life were marked by serious illness even as his music kept circulating. He is survived by his wife, Tanya Bonaface Bryson, their children Robert and Linda, and three grandchildren.
Family members said a celebration of life and memorial arrangements will be announced. For now, the lasting picture is of a singer whose voice traveled far beyond the charts and whose songs, especially the Disney pair that defined part of his fame, are likely to keep reaching listeners long after the final note.
