Johnnie Wilder Jr., the soulful lead singer of the R&B band Heatwave who continued singing after being paralyzed in a car accident, died Saturday, his daughter said Tuesday. He was 56.

Wilder founded Heatwave, which produced "Always and Forever" and other hits, with his brother, Keith Wilder. The band was nominated twice for Grammys.

In 1976, the group soared to the top of the R&B and pop charts with "Boogie Nights" and "Always and Forever," among other hits off the "Too Hot To Handle" album.

In February 1979, a van struck Wilder's car, paralyzing him from the neck down and hospitalizing him for a year. He went on to record other albums with the group and later began a gospel career, singing a cappella on the albums "My Goal" and "One More Day."

Very sad news Simon, Heatwave were one of THE finest brit funk bands from back in the day. I remember Johnnie's sweet vocals on their first single "aint no half steppin" and of course the sublime "always and forever" (one of my favorite slowies). Johnnie also wrote and produced music for a number of other artists, so taking this into account the loss is even greater. R.I.P Johnnie, your music will always live on in our hearts and minds

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Can't help feeling a bit dissapointed that despite 74 views, nobody else has felt it appropriate to comment about Johnnie's demise. I first got into Heatwave's music back in the late 70's early 80's through Robbie Vincent's Saturday show on Radio London . IMHO Johnnie played an immense part in making Brit Funk/Soul into the sucess it has now become (e.g Kenny Thomas, Lemar etc). I'm sure Simon will agree with me on this, so let's get a few more comments from others, the man is a legend.

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