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Peabo Bryson has died at age 75. 

The two-time Grammy winner known for his duets with artists like Regina Belle, Roberta Flack, and Celine Dion passed away June 2, days after experiencing a stroke. 

“We are tremendously moved by the outpouring of love, prayers and support from fans, friends, and colleagues around the world,” Bryson’s family said in a statement shared with People. “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. His legacy and music will live on for generations to come.”

Bryson was born Robert Peapo Bryson in South Carolina in 1951. He began performing professionally as a singer in his teens. Starting in the late 1970s, he had multiple hits on the R&B charts, including 1980s “Make the World Stand Still” with Flack. His star rose even further in 1991, when he teamed up with Celine Dion for the title track to Disney’s animated musical Beauty and the Beast. That song reached no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won both him and Dion a Grammy. 

A year later, Disney turned to Bryson again. He and Belle recorded “A Whole New World” for 1992’s Aladdin. The song reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – the first time a song from an animated movie ever topped the chart. (It wasn’t until 2021 that a song from another animated movie – Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” – managed the same feat.) It also netted Bryson his second Grammy Award. 

The inspiring song transcended the original movie, Bryson said in 2019. 

“It’s a song that represents every hope and every promise that you will ever have,” he told ABC Radio. “I sang it in South Africa for the first time they allowed black South Africans to enter into the Miss South Africa beauty pageant.”

The track also continued to resonate with Disney fans years after its release. 

“A song like ‘A Whole New World’…represents their happy place,” he said. “They’re adults now, but [it] can still make them cry.”

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