Luther Vandross

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Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Vandross performed in several different genres throughout his career, including Todd Rundgren, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer.

On Warner/RFC Records, he became a lead singer of Change's gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980.

After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and debut his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981. "Never Too Much," "Here and Now," "Any Love," "I Can Make It Better," "I Can Make It Better"), and "For You to Love" are among his hit songs.

"If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby," "Live and Forever") and "Always and Forever" were some of his songs that were based on original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "When Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn).

Beyoncé's "The Closer I Get to You," "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey, and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hit songs in his career. Vandross has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide and has received eight Grammy Awards, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times.

In 2004, he received a total of four Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song released not long before his death, "Dance with My Father."

Early life

Luther Ronzonzoni Vandross, Jr. was born in Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood on April 20, 1951. He was Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross, Sr.'s second son, and his father was an upholsterer and singer, and his mother was a nurse. Vandross was born in Manhattan's Lower East Side as part of the NYCHA Alfred E. Smith House's public housing project. Vandross learned to play the piano by ear at the age of three and owning his own phonograph.

When Vandross was eight years old, his father died of diabetes. Vandross composed the song "Dance with My Father" in 2003 and dedicated it to him; the name was based on his childhood memories and his mother's recollections of the family performing and dancing in the house. When he was nine years old, his family moved to the Bronx. Patricia "Pat" and Ann, his sisters, were taken by Vandross to the Apollo Theater and a theater in Brooklyn to see Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin. Patricia performed with the vocal group The Crests and appeared on "My Juanita" and "Sweetest One" in various genres.

Vandross graduated from William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx in 1969 and attended Western Michigan University for a year before leaving to pursue a career in music.

Personal life

Vandross never married and had no children. All of her four children survived, and his three older siblings all died of diabetes and asthma.

Vandross' sexual orientation had been a point of controversy in the media. "You had to wear blinders" while writing in Vandross' obituary. "Everybody in the company knew Luther was gay," Gene Davis, a television producer who worked with Vandross, says. "No one knows I'm in the life," Bruce Vilanch, a friend and colleague of Vandross, told Out magazine in 2006. ... He had very few sexual interactions. Vandross had his longest intimate encounter with a man while living in Los Angeles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to Vilanch. Patti LaBelle, Vandross' companion, reported being gay in December 2017, 12 years after his death. In addition, Vandross was well aware that going out as gay while actively recording music would have been detrimental to his career, considering that the overwhelming majority of his intended audience were women seeking some sort of emotional involvement from his words. "[Vandross] had a large number of lady followers," LaBelle said, "he didn't want to upset the world."

Vandross pleaded libel against a British publication in December 1985 after the corporation attributed his 85-pound weight loss to AIDS. When he started a diet in May of this year, he weighed 325 pounds (147 kg).

Salvemini's brother and manager Larry were the first to celebrate after signing Jimmy Salvemini and completing his debut album, Roll It, Vandross, Salvemini, and Salvemini's brother and boss Larry decided to celebrate. They were riding in Vandross' 1985 Mercedes-Benz convertible on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles' north section on January 12, 1986. Vandross was driving at 50 mph (56 km/h) in a 35-kilometer (56 km/h) zone when his Mercedes veered across the double yellow center line of the two lane street, turned sideways, and collided with the front of a 1972 Mercury Marquis headed southbound, then swung around and hit a 1979 Cadillac Seville head on. Vandross and Jimmy Salvemini were rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. During the accident, Larry, who was in the passenger seat, was killed. Vandross had three fractured ribs, a fractured hip, several bruises, and facial cuts. Jimmy, who was in the back of the car, had cuts, bruises, and contusions. As a result of Larry's death, Vandross was charged with vehicular murder, and his driving license was suspended for a year. Vandross was not under the influence of alcohol or other drugs; he denied contesting reckless driving. The Salvemini family was initially sympathetic of Vandross, but later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him. The lawsuit was settled out of court with a gift to the Salvemini family worth about $630,000. Roll It was announced later this year.

Vandross had diabetes and hypertension. He had a serious stroke at his home in New York City on April 16, 2003, and was in a coma for nearly two months. The stroke affected his ability to talk and sing, as well as his need to use a wheelchair.

Vandross appeared in a pre-taped video segment to accept his Song of the Year Award for "Dance with My Father" in 2004, saying, "I say goodbye for good because I believe in the power of love." (Vandross performed the last six words). Mary, his mother, accepted the award in person on his behalf. His last public appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 6, 2004. Vandross died on July 1, 2005, at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, at the age of 54, as a result of a heart attack.

On July 8, 2005, Vandross' funeral was held at Riverside Church in New York City. Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, and Cissy Houston were among the speakers and performers at the service. Vandross was entombed at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey, by George Washington. Mary Ida Vandross, his mother, died in 2008.

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Career

Vandross founded the first Patti LaBelle fan club, of which he was president, while in high school. Shades of Jade, a group that once appeared at the Apollo Theater, performed in Shades of Jade. He appeared at the Apollo's most famous amateur night in his early days in show business. Although he was involved in the singles "Only Love Will Make a Better World" and "Listen My Brother," he was a member of a theater workshop, Listen My Brother." In late August 1969, the group appeared at the Harlem Cultural Festival in front of tens of thousands of people. He appeared with the group in the pilot episode and other episodes of Sesame Street's first season from 1969 to 1969.

Vandross contributed backing vocals to Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway's 1972 debut and appeared on Delores Hall's Hall-Mark album (1973). He performed with her on the album "Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me," which he wrote, and he performed "In This Lonely Hour." Vandross went on tour with him as a back-up vocalist on his album "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)" after his song "Fascination" with David Bowie on the latter's Young Americans (1975) album in September 1974. For the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz, Vandross wrote "Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day."

Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Ben E. King, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Barbra Stayne, Carly Simon, Barkly Simon, Cat Stevens, Gary Glitter, Sister Sledge, and Donna Summer also performed backing vocals for artists, including Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Ben E. King, Bette Midler, Bette Midler, Carly Simon, Barbra Strobbe, Barbra Stutter, David Bowie, Mandrill,

Vandross was a member of a singing quintet named Luther in the late 1970s before his solo debut. Former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, as well as Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, all from Cotillion Records, were among the group's members. Although the singles "It's Good for the Soul," "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me"), and "The Second Time Around" were all well-received, Vandross' "This Close to You (1976), which Vandross produced, did not sell enough to make the charts, it's not. After Cotillion dropped the band, Vandross regained control of those albums, effectively ending the possibility from being re-released.

Vandross also performed and performed commercial jingles for companies such as NBC, Mountain Dew, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, and Juicy Fruit from 1977 to the early 1980s. During the 1970s, he continued to perform as a well-known session singer. In a Kodak commercial during the mid-1970s, his aforementioned song "Everybody Rejoice," also known as "A Brand New Day," was used.

Vandross performed lead vocals for Gregg Diamond's disco band, Bionic Boogie, on the song "Hot Butterfly" in 1978. He appeared on Quincy Jones' Sounds in 1978...and Stuff Like That! !, most notably on the song "I'm Gonna Miss You in the Morning" with Patti Austin. Vandross has performed with Soirée and appeared on "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" as the lead vocalist; he also performed background vocals on the album; Jocelyn Brown and Sharon Redd, both of whom performed solo, have also performed. In addition,, he sang lead vocals on Mascara's LP hit song "See You in Los Angeles," which was released in 1979. Vandross appeared on the group Charme's 1979 album Let It In.

Vandross made his name by performing with the lauded pop-dance band Change, a French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus's studio model. Vandross appeared in "The Glow of Love" (by Romani, Malavasi, and Garfield), as well as "Searching" (by Malavasi). "The Glow of Love," Vandross said in a 2001 interview with Vibe, was "the most beautiful song I've ever sung in my life." Both songs were from Change's debut album, The Glow of Love.

Vandross had planned to appear on their second and wildly popular album Miracles in 1981, but the musicians refused to perform because Petrus didn't have enough funds. Vandross' departure resulted in a recording deal with Epic Records that same year, but he also appeared on "Miracles" and in the upcoming Petrus-created act, the B. B. Q. & A. In 1981, a band formed in 1981. Vandross' second attempt at a solo career with his debut album, Never Too Much, began in this turbulent year. It included a copy of the Bacharach & David song "A House Is Not a Home" in addition to the hit title track.

On the R&B charts, his song "Never Too Much" was ranked number one. Marcus Miller, a bassist who appeared on several of the songs and who would later produce or coproduce a number of tracks for Vandross, began this period. Nat Adderley, Jr., Vandross' high school classmate, arranged the Never Too Much album, a partnership that will continue throughout Vandross' tenure.

Vandross recorded a string of hit R&B albums in the 1980s and then continued his session work with guest vocals on bands like Charme in 1982. Many of his older albums had a larger effect on the R&B charts than on the pop charts. Two of Vandross' singles reached No. 1 in the 1980s. "Stop to Love" on the Billboard R&B charts in 1986, and "There's Nothing Better Than Love" a duet with Gregory Hines. Vandross was the producer on Aretha Franklin's Gold-certified, award-winning comeback album Jump to It. Get It Right, 1983's Get It Right, He also produced the follow-up album.

Dionne Warwick, the singer's main musical influence, came about in 1983, when she first appeared on How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, her fourth album for Arista Records, when she was working with him. Since the title track duet to No. 1, the album duet has reached No. 63. On the Hot 100 chart (#7 R&B/#4 Adult Contemporary), the second single, "Got a Date," was a moderate success (#45 R&B/#15 Club Play).

Diana Ross of her Red Hot Rhythm & Blues album wrote and produced "It's Hard for Me to Say" for her. On her last season of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Ross performed the song as a cappella tribute to Oprah Winfrey. She added it to her wildly popular 2010-2012 "More Today Than Yesterday" tour. In 1996, Vandross released a version of this song on his You Secret Love album.

Vandross first noticed Jimmy Salvemini, who was 15 at the time, on Star Search in 1985. Salvemini thought he had the right voice for some of his songs, so he contacted him. Larry Salvemini, his brother, was in charge of him. Vandross has agreed to produce the album after a contract was discussed with Elektra Records for $250,000. Cheryl Lynn, Alfa Anderson (Chic), Phoebe Snow and Irene Cara all called to appear on the radio, and he called his old friends, Cheryl Lynn, Alfa Anderson (Chic), to appear on the record. Roll It Out, Jimmy Salvemini's album, was released in 1986.

In Stevie Wonder's 1985 hit "Part-Time Lover," Vandross performed the ad-libs and background vocals, as well as Syeeta Wright and Philip Bailey. In 1984, he voiced Zack for ABC's Zack of All Trades, a three-day animated PSA spot.

Luther Vandross' The Best of Everything was released in 1989. The Best of Love featured ballad "Here and Now," his first single to chart in the Billboard pop chart top ten, peaking at number six.

Vandross produced and performed background for Whitney Houston's "Who Do You Love" album, which appeared on her album "I'm Your Baby Tonight," in 1990. He appeared on television sitcom 227 this year.

More albums followed in the 1990s, beginning with 1991's Power of Love, which spawned two top ten pop hits. In 1991, he received his first Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. In 1992, he received his second Best Male R&B Vocal Award, and his album "Power of Love/Love Power" received the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in the same year. "The Best Things in Life Are Free," a duet with Janet Jackson from Mo' Money in 1992, became a hit. In 1993, he appeared in the Robert Townsend film The Meteor Man for a short time. He was a hit man who planned to erase Townsend's title character.

In 1994, Vandross made it to the top ten in the top ten, collaborating with Mariah Carey on a cover version of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's duet "Endless Love" by Mariah Ross. It was included on the album Songs, a series of songs that had inspired Vandross over the years. He also appears on Frank Sinatra's "The Lady Is a Tramp" album. He received his third Best Male R&B Vocal Award for his album "Your Secret Love," at the Grammy Awards of 1997.

The majority of his 1990s hits were collected on Epic Records, and this was his last album to be released through Epic Records. I Know on Virgin Records, he signed with J Records after launching I Know on Virgin Records. Luther Vandross, Clive Davis' first album, was released in 2001, and it featured hits "Take You Out" (#7 R&B/#26 Pop) and "I'd Rather" (#17 Adult Contemporary/#83 Pop). Vandross has had at least one top ten R&B hit every year from 1981 to 1994.

During Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, Vandross performed the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

At its opening in Philadelphia at First Union Spectrum and its last stop at Madison Square Garden on July 6, 2000, he made two public appearances at Diana Ross' Return to Love Tour: on July 6, 2000.

Vandross performed a version of Michael Jackson's hit song "Man in the Mirror" at Jackson's 30th Anniversary tribute in September 2001, along with Usher and 98 Degrees.

Vandross' last collaboration, "What's Going On," a recreation of Marvin Gaye's seminal 1971 masterpiece from Powell's album 97th and Columbus, was published in the spring of 2003.

Vandross' album Dance with My Father was released in 2003. In the first week, it sold 42,000 copies and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, and it debuted at number one. The 2004 Grammy Award for Song of the Year went to Vandross' childhood memories of dancing with his father. In addition, the song received his fourth and final accolades in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. It was his first act on record. 1 on the Billboard album chart. Many celebrities appear alongside their fathers and other family members in the title track's video. According to Radio & Records, the album's second single, "Think About You," was the top Urban Adult Contemporary song of 2004.

CBS Sports gives "One Shining Moment" a new look in 2003, after the televised NCAA Men's Basketball championship. Vandross, who had only attended one basketball game in his life, was the current artist, and his video had no of the special effects, such as glowing basketballs and star trails, seen in previous years. This song version is still in use today.

"Shine," a hit R&B track that samples Chic's disco song "My Forbidden Lover" who debuted at No. 1. The Billboard R&B chart shows 31 people on the Billboard R&B chart. The song had been supposed to be released on the soundtrack to the film The Fighting Temptations, but it was later cancelled. The song's later iteration made it to No. 1 on the charts. On the Club Play chart, they rank tenth. On The Ultimate Luther Vandross (2006), a greatest hits album on Epic Records/Legacy Recordings that was released on August 22, 2006, "Shine" and a track titled "Got You Home" were previously unreleased songs on The Ultimate Luther Vandross (2006), a best hits album on Epic Records/Legacy Recordings.

Epic Records/J Records/Legacy Recordings/Legacy Recordings unveiled a 4-disc boxed set titled Love, Luther on October 16, 2007. It includes nearly all of Vandross' R&B and pop hits from his career, as well as unreleased live tracks, alternate versions, and outtakes from sessions that Vandross recorded. The set also includes "There's Only You," a version of which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Made in Heaven.

Sony Music unveiled a re-configured version of its The Essential Luther Vandross collection, which featured three songs from "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with Paul Simon and Jennifer Holliday), as well as a cover of Astrud Gilberto's "Looking to the Rainbow."

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