NEW YORK — Peabo Bryson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer known as the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney film duets “Beauty and the Beast” with Celine Dion and “A Whole New World” with Regina Belle from “Aladdin,” has died. He was 75.
His family said in a statement that Bryson died Tuesday evening, June 2, 2026, in Marietta, Georgia, days after having a stroke.
“While our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and how many lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit,” the family’s statement said. “His legacy and music will live on for generations to come.”
Internationally celebrated for his Disney classics, Bryson also built a career over five decades as one of R&B’s premier balladeers, recording hits including “Feel the Fire,” “I’m So Into You” and “Can You Stop the Rain.”
“For more than five decades, Peabo’s extraordinary voice served as the soundtrack to some of life’s most cherished moments,” the family’s statement said. “His music carried generations through joyful celebrations, great love stories and enduring moments of comfort and inspiration.”
Throughout his prolific career, Bryson became known for his pristine tenor and remarkable reserves of technical ability, working with fellow illustrious R&B singers including Sam Cooke and Brian McKnight. Specializing in towering ballads — “I’m So Into You,” “Let the Feeling Flow,” “If It’s Really Love,” “Feel the Fire,” and “Through the Fire” — he released some 20 albums, scored 17 Top 20 R&B hits, and released three gold-certified albums.
Bryson celebrated his 60th birthday during a performance in Memphis in 2011.
Born Robert Peabo Bryson and raised in South Carolina, the singer, songwriter and balladeer launched his career with the group Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display in the 1970s. Shortly afterward, Atlanta label Bang Records signed him as a solo artist.
He recorded for Capitol, Elektra and Columbia Records and became one of music’s most sought-after duet partners. Aside from Belle and Dion, he also collaborated with artists including Roberta Flack and Natalie Cole.
His duet with Flack, “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,” became one of the defining love songs of the 1980s, while “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again” helped expand his audience beyond R&B radio. He later scored No. 1 R&B hits with “Show & Tell” and “Can You Stop the Rain.”
Beyond music, Bryson appeared in stage productions including “Raisin,” “The Wiz” and “Porgy and Bess.” In 2018, he returned with “Stand for Love,” his 21st studio album, produced by hitmaking duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
“If I were to tell you the emotions I feel most every day: gratitude for one, humility for another, and validation. Not how you think, but validation in the faith that I’ve kept in myself and those around me, and the person that I’ve managed to maintain myself to be,” Bryson told Rolling Stone in 2018. “I’m really happy about that. I like me. And I like that I don’t feel the need to chronicle my accolades to anyone, shout them out to anybody. But, if someone were to stop and do the research, there’s nobody like me.”
Bryson’s family said memorial and celebration-of-life arrangements will be announced at a later date.
