For a whole generation of Americans, the first notes of “A Whole New World” bring back a single voice. Warm, rich, and unmistakable, that voice belonged to Peabo Bryson. The two-time Grammy winner died on June 2, 2026, at age 75. He had suffered a stroke at his Marietta, Georgia home just three days earlier.
Bryson spent fifty years perfecting the romantic ballad. Yet two Disney classics in the early 1990s turned a respected R&B veteran into a household name. Here is the story of the man behind that voice.
From “Little Willie” to Peabo
Robert Peabo Bryson was born on April 13, 1951, in Greenville, South Carolina. His path into music started early. By age 14, he was singing backup in a traveling revue called Al Freeman & The Upsetters.
A small detail explains his stage name. The bandleader could not pronounce “Peabo” and simply called him “Little Willie.” When a second bandleader had the same trouble, Bryson decided to make “Peabo” his own.
In 1968, he left home to tour the legendary Southern “chitlin’ circuit” with Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display. This network of venues launched many great Black American performers. The experience shaped him into a polished entertainer long before his first hit.
Building an R&B Career
Bryson’s big break came during a recording session at Atlanta’s Bullet/Bang Records. The label’s management noticed his talent right away. First they signed him as a writer, producer, and arranger, then encouraged him to perform his own songs. He launched his solo career in 1976 with his debut album, Peabo.
A year later, he signed with Capitol Records, and the hits soon followed. His 1978 albums Reaching for the Sky and Crosswinds both went gold. They delivered enduring favorites like “Feel the Fire” and “I’m So Into You.” Across his career, he recorded around 20 albums and earned five gold records. Remarkably, three of them arrived back to back between 1978 and 1979.
He also became one of pop’s great duet partners. First he teamed with Natalie Cole for We’re the Best of Friends in 1979. Then he joined Roberta Flack for the 1983 album Born to Love, which produced the Top 20 pop hit “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.” In 1984, his solo single “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again” reached the Top 10. By decade’s end, he scored his first R&B No. 1 with a remake of “Show & Tell.”
The Disney Moment That Changed Everything
If the 1980s established Bryson, the early 1990s made him a legend. Two songs from back-to-back Disney films did the trick.
The first was the title song from 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, a duet with a then 23-year-old Céline Dion. The song reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also won Bryson his first Grammy, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
The very next year came “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, performed with Regina Belle. That recording topped the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, it became the first song from an animated film ever to reach No. 1, earning Bryson a second Grammy in the same category. Both songs also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
For a brief stretch in February 1993, Bryson’s voice seemed to be everywhere at once. “A Whole New World” sat atop both the pop and adult contemporary charts at the same time. Few artists ever reach that peak.
A Voice Built to Last
The instrument itself set Bryson apart. Critics often described his tone as smooth and almost operatic. He could deliver both restrained tenderness and soaring power. Notably, he was the first artist in music history to have separate records simultaneously top four different charts.
He never fully stepped away from the stage. Over the years, he appeared in productions like The Wiz and Porgy and Bess. He also lent his voice to charitable projects supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. As recently as 2018, he released Stand for Love, a return to R&B made with star producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. He had survived a major heart attack in 2019 and kept performing afterward. In fact, he was scheduled to appear at a New Orleans jazz festival in March 2026.
A Quiet Goodbye
Bryson died peacefully on the evening of June 2, 2026, surrounded by family. In a statement, his loved ones said their hearts were broken. Even so, they took comfort in knowing how deeply he was loved and how many lives his voice had touched.
His longtime duet partner Regina Belle shared a moving memory. She had visited him in the hospital that Sunday, where she held his hand and sang “A Whole New World” in a whisper. The hardest part, she said, was knowing she would never again sing beside the person who helped her create such magic.
Bryson is survived by his wife, Tanya, his children Robert and Linda, and three grandchildren.
One of his final social media posts came in April. It featured photos celebrating his 75th birthday, captioned simply: “This is 75!!” That note fit an artist who spent his life giving voice to love. His songs, as his family put it, will live on for generations to come.