Bryson marked his professional debut at the age of 14, singing backup for Al Freeman and the Upsetters, a local Greenville group. It was Freeman's difficulty in pronouncing Bryson's French West-Indian name, Peapo, that led Bryson to perform as Peabo. Two years later, he left home to tour the
Chitlin' Circuit with another local band, Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display. Bryson's first break came during a recording session at Atlanta's Bang Records. Although Bang was not impressed with Dillard's band, the young backup singer caught the ear of the label's general manager, Eddie Biscoe. Biscoe signed Bryson to a contract as a writer, producer, and arranger and encouraged Bryson to perform his own songs. For several years, Bryson worked with hometown bands and wrote and produced for Bang. 1989's "Show and Tell", and the 1991 hit "
Can You Stop the Rain". Bryson's vocals were added to the regular theme song in 1986 and his voice was heard daily until 1992. He recorded the successful album of
romantic love duets with
Roberta Flack (
Born to Love) in 1983. In partnership with
Regina Belle, Bryson recorded two hit duets: "
Without You", the love theme from the
comedy film Leonard Part 6, recorded in 1987, and "
A Whole New World", the main theme of the
Disney's animated
feature film Aladdin, recorded in 1992. Bryson and Belle recorded four duets over the years: "
Without You" (in 1987), "I Can't Imagine" (in 1991), "A Whole New World" (in 1992) and "Total Praise" (in 2009). However, his Grammy for "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)" was purchased by a close friend of the family who vowed to return it to Bryson. ==Personal life==