John Whitehead, an R & B artist best known for the 1979 hit song “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” was shot dead here on Tuesday, the police said. He was 55.

Mr. Whitehead and another man were working on a vehicle when they were shot by two gunmen, the police said.

Mr. Whitehead was shot in the neck and collapsed. The other man was in good condition early Wednesday at Albert Einstein Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Gene McFadden, who was Mr. Whitehead’s partner in the singing group McFadden and Whitehead, went to the scene of the shooting in the city’s West Oak Lane neighborhood, WPVI-TV reported.

Mr. Whitehead and Mr. McFadden formed a group called the Epsilons as teenagers and were discovered by Otis Redding and toured with him until his death, in 1967.

The two wrote several hit songs performed by others in the 1970’s, including “Back Stabbers,” “For the Love of Money,” “I’ll Always Love My Mamma,” “Bad Luck,” “Wake Up Everybody,” “Where Are All My Friends?” “The More I Want” and “Cold, Cold World.”

“Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” a platinum record, went to No. 1 on the R & B charts and reached No. 13 on the pop charts.

The song became an unofficial anthem for the Phillies as they made their way to a World Series championship in 1980 and for the Eagles as they reached the Super Bowl in 1981.

Mr. Whitehead’s survivors include a daughter, Dawn Whitehead.

Credit: AP