David Peaston

Background

As a child, he attended the Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church along with his mother, Martha Bass, a member of The Clara Ward Singers gospel group.

Career

He was mostly known for the singles, "Two Wrongs (Don"t Make it Right)" and, the latter of which was originally recorded by Eddie Kendricks. He was a native of Saint Louis, Missouri. After graduating he worked as a school teacher but, after being laid off in 1981, moved to New York City and began working as a background singer on recording sessions, including Lester Bowie"s 1982 album, The One and Only (ECM).

3 on the Billboard Black chart in 1989.

He had further hits on the Rhythm & Blues chart with and "We"re All In This Together", and released an album, David Peaston. He also toured with Gerald Alston in Europe, and with Gladys Knight in the United States, before moving to the Master of Computer Applications label in 1991, where he issued the album Mixed Emotions.

In 1993 he recorded a gospel album with Fontella and Martha Bass entitled Promises: A Family Portrait Of Faith. During the 1990s, Peaston was diagnosed with diabetes, and in 2004 had his legs amputated, forcing him to use prostheses.

When he was preparing to be honored at the 2004 event "A Celebration of Love in Saint Louis," he struggled with whether he had let his disease prevent him from ever performing on stage again.

"I didn"t want to be back in the public," he told the Post-Dispatch that year. "I wasn"t embarrassed or ashamed, but I felt I let myself down and, therefore, I let everyone else down. lieutenant was my fault for being sick, and I didn"t want anybody to see me like that." But by 2004, he lost 200 pounds, and sang with the Saint Louis group the Distinguished Gents for five years.

The group performed a mix of classical, jazz and gospel songs annually at the Ethical Society of Saint Louis.

In 2006, Peaston returned to studio and issued the album, Song Book: Songs of Soul & Inspiration. The album featured eight new tracks by Peaston, as well as several of his biggest hits.

David Peaston was also a veteran of traveling gospel plays such as "Momma Don"t." Singer Cheryl Pepsii Riley toured with him in "Momma Don"t" and other shows. Peaston died from complications of diabetes in Saint Louis, Missouri, on February 1, 2012, at the age of 54.

Achievements

• In the late 1980s, he won several competitions on the Showtime at the Apollo television show, winning over the audience with a powerful rendition of "God Bless the Child." He was signed by Geffen Records, and his first single, "Two Wrongs (Don"t Make lieutenant Right)" rose to northern