LV, YOU DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE MISSED. CONTINUE CROONING IN THE COSMOS UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON.
Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists including Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981.
His hit songs include “Never Too Much”, “Here and Now”, “Any Love”, “Power of Love/Love Power”, “I Can Make It Better” and “For You to Love”. Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as “If This World Were Mine” (duet with Cheryl Lynn), “Since I Lost My Baby”, “Superstar” and “Always and Forever”. Duets such as “The Closer I Get to You” with Beyoncé, “Endless Love” with Mariah Carey and “The Best Things in Life Are Free” with Janet Jackson were all hit songs in his career.
During his career, Vandross sold over 35 million records worldwide,[1] and received eight Grammy Awards[2] including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, “Dance with My Father”.
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was born on April 20, 1951 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, United States. He was the fourth child and second son of Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross, Sr.
Vandross was raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the NYCHA Alfred E. Smith Houses public housing development. His father was a crooner and his mother, a nurse, was singing gospel. At the age of three, having his own phonograph, he taught himself to play the piano by ear. His family moved to the Bronx when he was thirteen. His sisters, Patricia “Pat” and Ann began taking Vandross to the Apollo Theater and to a theater in Brooklyn to see Dionne Warwick or Aretha Franklin. Pat Vandross sang with the vocal group The Crests, which had a number two hit in 1958/59 with “16 Candles”, although she left the group before the song was recorded.
Vandross’ father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old. In high school, Vandross performed in a group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He was also a member of a theater workshop, “Listen My Brother”, which released the singles “Only Love Can Make a Better World” and “Listen My Brother”. He also appeared in the second and fifth episodes of Sesame Street in November 1969.
Vandross attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music.
His next hit credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972.
Vandross founded the first-ever Patti LaBelle fan club.
Vandross sang on Delores Hall’s Hall-Mark album (1973). He sang with her on the song “Who’s Gonna Make It Easier for Me”, which he wrote, and he contributed another song, “In This Lonely Hour”. Having co-written “Fascination” (1974) for David Bowie’s Young Americans (1975), he went on to tour with him as a back-up vocalist in September 1974.[citation needed] Vandross wrote “Everybody Rejoice” for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz and appeared as a choir member in the movie.
Vandross also sang backing vocals for artists including Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Ben E. King, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer, and for the bands Chic and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia.
Vandross sang on Delores Hall’s Hall-Mark album (1973). He sang with her on the song “Who’s Gonna Make It Easier for Me”, which he wrote, and he contributed another song, “In This Lonely Hour”. Having co-written “Fascination” (1974) for David Bowie’s Young Americans (1975), he went on to tour with him as a back-up vocalist in September 1974. Vandross wrote “Everybody Rejoice” for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz and appeared as a choir member in the movie.
Vandross also sang backing vocals for artists including Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Ben E. King, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer, and for the bands Chic and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
Before his solo breakthrough, Vandross was part of a singing quintet in the late ’70s named Luther, consisting of former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, as well as Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, signed to Cotillion Records. Although the singles “It’s Good for the Soul”, “Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)”, and “The Second Time Around” were relatively successful, their two albums, the self-titled Luther (1976) and This Close to You (1977), didn’t sell enough to make the charts. Vandross bought back the rights to those albums after Cotillion dropped the group, preventing their later re-release.
Vandross also wrote and sang commercial jingles during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s.
In 1978, Vandross sang lead vocals for a disco band called Greg Diamond’s Bionic Boogie on the song titled “Hot Butterfly”.[citation needed] Also in 1978, he appeared on Quincy Jones’s Sounds…and Stuff Like That!!, most notably on the song “I’m Gonna Miss You In The Morning” along with Patti Austin. Luther also sang with the band Soirée and was the lead vocalist on the track “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”; he also contributed background vocals to the album along with Jocelyn Brown and Sharon Redd, each of whom also saw solo success. Additionally, he sang the lead vocals on the group Mascara’s LP title song “See You in L.A.” released in 1979. Vandross also appeared on the group Charme’s 1979 album Let It In, most notably on a remake of Toto’s hit single “Georgy Porgy”.
Vandross impressed Bowie and was invited to arrange vocals and sing background vocals for the album. Bowie’s US tour also featured Vandross as the opening act. His vocal talent was recognized and session credits with Chaka Khan, Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer and others prompted Cotillion records to sign him. His albums Luther and This Close To You (1976) both flopped, partly due to the disco backing as opposed to allowing Vandross to express his romantic, soul style. He drifted back to session work for Quincy Jones, Patti Austin, Gwen Guthrie, Chic, and Sister Sledge.
Composing advertising jingles also financed this work. His performance with the group Change on 1980’s The Glow Of Love earned him two UK Top 20 hits in Glow Of Love and Searching. This led to a solo career with Epic/CBS Records. Never Too Much earned him an R&B number 1, while singles, including duets with Cheryl Lynn (If This World Were Mine) and Dionne Warwick (How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye), strengthened his popularity. Then came Stop To Love (1986) and There’s Nothing Better Than Love (1987). Later releases included Here And Now (1989), Power Of Love/Love Power and Don’t Want To Be A Fool (1991).
In 1992 Vandross collaborated with Janet Jackson, BBD, and Ralph Tresvant on The Best Things In Life Are Free. Endless Love, a duet with Mariah Carey, reached UK number 3 in September 1994. Vandross has won countless awards and he has worked with Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and Whitney Houston. Grammy-winner Luther Vandross had a stroke in April 2003.
Vandross suffered from diabetes and hypertension, both of which may have been brought on by family genetics as well as lifestyle and nutrition. He had just finished the final vocals for the album Dance with My Father when on April 16, 2003, he suffered a severe stroke at his home in New York City. The stroke left him in a coma for nearly two months, during which time he also had to fight both meningitis and pneumonia (which required a tracheotomy). The stroke also left Vandross with difficulty speaking and singing, as well as confined to a wheelchair.
On February 8, 2004, at the Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Vandross appeared in a pre-taped video segment to accept his Song of the Year Award for “Dance with My Father”. In addition to thanking his fans for their support throughout his illness and recovery, he said, “When I say goodbye it’s never for long, because I believe in the power of love” (Vandross sang the last six words). His mother, Mary (1922–2008), accepted the award in person on his behalf. Following a May 6, 2004 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he was never seen in public again. Vandross died on July 1, 2005, at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, at the age of 54.
After two days of viewing at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, his funeral was held at Riverside Church in New York City on July 8, 2005. Cissy Houston, founding member of The Sweet Inspirations and mother of Whitney Houston, delivered a heartfelt rendition of “Deep River” at the funeral service. Vandross was buried at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. He was survived by his mother, Mary Ida Vandross, who died in 2008. Vandross’s estate left an undisclosed major gift to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Written by Dianne Washington