Luther Vandross

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This article is about the singer. For his self-titled album, see Luther Vandross (album).
Luther Vandross

Background information
Birth name Luther Ronzoni Vandross
Born April 20, 1951(1951-04-20)
Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Died July 1, 2005 (aged 54)
Edison, New Jersey, United States
Genre(s) R&B, soul, quiet storm, soft rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, record producer
Years active 1968–2005
Label(s) Cotillion, Epic, Virgin, J, Legacy
Website www.luthervandross.com

Luther Ronzoni Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums[1] and won eight Grammy Awards[2] including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times. He won four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the track "Dance With My Father",[3] co-written with Richard Marx.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] 1951–1979: Early life and career

Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, he was born in Smith Housing Project. At age three he began playing the piano. Vandross grew up in a musical family that moved to the Bronx when he was thirteen. His sister sang with vocal group The Crests[3] who had a number two hit in 1958 with "Sixteen Candles", though she left the group before the recording. Vandross' father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old.[3]

Luther Vandross was in a vocal group in high school, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.[4] He was also a member of a theater workshop, "Listen My Brother" who released the singles, "Only Love Can Make a Better World" and "Listen My Brother", and appeared on the second and fifth episodes of Sesame Street in November 1969.[5][6]

Vandross attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music.[7]

His next recording credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972. He was the founder of the first ever Patti LaBelle fan club. Luther also sang on Delores Hall's Hall-Mark album from 1973. He sang with her on the song "Who's Gonna Make It Easier For Me", which he wrote. He also contributed another song, "In This Lonely Hour". Having co-written "Fascination" for David Bowie's Young Americans, he went on to tour with him as a back-up vocalist in September 1974.[8][6] Vandross wrote "Everybody Rejoice"[9] for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz; also appearing as a choir member in the movie.[10]

Vandross also sang backing vocals for Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Chic, and Barbra Streisand.

Before his breakthrough, Vandross was part of a singing quintet in the late '70s, consisting former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, also called Luther, signed to Cotillion Records.[11][12] 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 these albums after the record label dropped the group, preventing their later re-release.[11]

Vandross also wrote and sang commercials jingles during the late 1970s and early 1980s,[3]continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s.

 Luther also sang lead vocals for a disco band called Greg Diamonds Bionic Boogie singing lead for the song titled Lovers Holiday.

[edit] 1980–2003: Career success

Luther Vandross finally made his long desired career breakthrough as a featured singer with the vaunted pop-dance act Change, a studio concept created by French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus (1949-1986) with songs written and produced by his Italian co-workers Davide Romani, Paolo Gianolio and Betty Murphrey of Kinston NC who is librarian of Jones Senior High. Their 1980 hits, "A Lover's Holiday" (by Romani and Willoughby), "The Glow of Love" (by Romani, Malavasi and Garfield) and "Searching" (by Malavasi), of which Vandross sang on the last two, opened up the world for Vandross. And there was no doubt about whether Vandross liked the song "The Glow of Love". In an interview that Vibe Magazine did with him in 2001 Vandross said, "This is the most beautiful song I've ever sung in my life." Vandross was also originally intended to perform on the second and highly successful Change album "Miracles" in 1981, but declined the offer as Petrus didn't pay enough money. Vandross' decision rapidly led to a recording contract with Epic Records that same year but didn't stop him from doing some background vocals on "Miracles" and on the new Petrus created act, NYC band, The B. B. & Q. band in 1981. During that hectic year Vandross jump-started his second attempt at a solo career with his debut album, Never Too Much. In addition to the hit title track it contained a version of the Burt Bacharach / Hal David song "A House Is Not a Home". The song "Never Too Much", written by himself, reaching number-one on the R&B charts. This period also marked the beginning of frequent songwriting collaboration with bassist Marcus Miller, who played on many of the tracks and would also produce or co-produce a number of tracks for Vandross.

Vandross released a series of successful albums during the 1980s and continued his session work with guest vocals on groups like Charme in 1982. These albums earned him the reputation as "the Black Phil Collins." Although the albums were successful overall, many of his earlier albums made a much bigger impact on the R&B charts than on the pop charts. During the 1980s, Vandross had two singles that reached number one on the Billboard R&B charts: "Stop to Love", in 1986, and a duet with Gregory Hines—"There's Nothing Better Than Love."[13] He was at the helm for Aretha Franklin's albums Jump to It and Get It Right. In 1983, the opportunity to work with his main music influence, Dionne Warwick, came about with Vandross producing, writing songs, and singing on How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, her fourth album for Arista Records. The title track duet reached #27 on the Hot 100 chart (#7 R&B/#4 Adult Contemporary),[14] while the second single, "Got a Date" was only a moderate hit (#45 R&B/#15 Club Play).

The 1989 compilation The Best of Luther Vandross... The Best of Love, included the ballad "Here and Now", his first single to chart in the Billboard pop chart top ten, peaking at number six. He won his first Grammy award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1991.

More albums followed in the 1990s, beginning with 1991's Power of Love which spawned two top ten pop hits. He won his second Best Male R&B Vocal in the Grammy Awards of 1992 with the track "Power of Love/Love Power" winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in the same year. In 1992, "The Best Things in Life Are Free", a duet with Janet Jackson from the movie Mo' Money became a hit.

In 1993, Vandross had a brief non-speaking role in the Robert Townsend movie The Meteor Man. He played a hit man who plotted to stop Townsend's title character.

Vandross hit the top ten again in 1994 with Mariah Carey, doing a cover version of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's duet "Endless Love." He also appears on Frank Sinatra's posthumous Duets album. In the Grammy Awards of 1997, he won his third Best Male R&B Vocal for the track "Your Secret Love". A second greatest hits album, released in 1997, compiled most of his 1990s hits and was his final album released through Epic Records. After releasing I Know on Virgin Records, he signed with J Records. His first album on Clive Davis's new label, entitled Luther Vandross, was released in 2001, and it produced the hits "Take You Out" (#7 R&B/#26 Pop), and "I'd Rather" (#17 Adult Contemporary/#40 R&B/#83 Pop)

In 1997, Luther Vandross sang the American national anthem during the 1997 NFL Super Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.

In 2003, Vandross released the album Dance With My Father. The title track, which was dedicated to Vandross' memory childhood dances with his father, won Luther and his co-writer, Richard Marx, the 2004 Grammy Award for Song Of The Year. The song also won Vandross his fourth and final award in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. The album was his first to reach number one on the Billboard album chart. The video for the title track features various celebrities alongside their fathers and other family members. The 2nd Single released from that album, "Think About You" was the Number One Urban Adult Contemporary Song of 2004 according to Radio & Records.

[edit] 2003–2005: Illness and death

Vandross had diabetes,[3] a disease that ran in his family, as well as hypertension. On April 16, 2003, just 4 days before his 52nd birthday, Vandross suffered a stroke in his home in Manhattan.[3] Though the cause of Vandross' stroke was not specifically attributed to diabetes, diabetics have been identified as being much more susceptible to strokes than non-diabetics.

He appeared briefly on videotape at the 2004 Grammys to accept his Song of the Year award, where he said, "Whenever I say goodbye it's never for long because I believe in the power of love".[3] Other than an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he was never seen in public again. Vandross died on July 1, 2005 at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey at the age of 54.[6] The cause of his death was never publicly released.

His funeral was in New York City on July 8, 2005.[15] After two days of viewing, Vandross was laid to rest in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.[16]

[edit] Legacy

[edit] Tribute

[edit] New releases

J Records released a song "Shine"—an upbeat R&B track that samples Chic's disco song "My Forbidden Lover"—reaching #31 on the R&B chart. A later remix peaked at #10 on the Club Play chart. "Shine" and a track entitled "Got You Home" are previously unreleased songs on The Ultimate Luther Vandross, a greatest hits album on Epic Records/J Records/Legacy Recordings that was released August 22, 2006.

On October 16, 2007, Epic Records/J Records/Legacy Recordings released a 4 disc box set entitled Love, Luther. It features all of Vandross' hits throughout his 24 year career. A single will be released from the box set entitled, "There's Only You", a version of which had originally appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 movie Made in Heaven.[19]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Luther Vandross discography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Luther Vandross. AskMen.com (UK Edition). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  2. ^ Vandross' Funeral Soulful and Powerful. Yahoo! News (July 8, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Obituary: Luther Vandross. BBC News (July 1, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  4. ^ Luther Vandross' Swan Song. Yahoo! Music (July 1, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  5. ^ Luther Vandross artist page.
  6. ^ a b c Luther Vandross dead at 54. CNN (July 1, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  7. ^ Seymour, Craig (2004). Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross. HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0-06-059418-7. 
  8. ^ Luther Vandross. Vibe.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  9. ^ Full Cast and Crew for The Wiz. IMDb. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  10. ^ Luther Vandross. IMDb. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  11. ^ a b Luther Vandross at MTV.com. MTV. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
  12. ^ Luther Vandross Page. SoulWalking. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
  13. ^ Artist Chart History
  14. ^ Artist Chart History
  15. ^ Luther Vandross Funeral Plans Set. 6ABC (July 8, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-14.
  16. ^ Luther Vandross' All-Star Send-Off. E! News (July 8, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-14.
  17. ^ Forever, For Always, For Luther, VerveMusicGroup.com
  18. ^ Forever, For Always, For Luther Volume II, smoothvibes.com
  19. ^ EUR Web article, "Luther Boxed Set Includes Rare/Unreleased Tracks, EURWeb.com

[edit] Sources

  • Seymour, Craig. The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross, HarperCollins, 2004 - ISBN 0060594187
  • Vandross, Luther. The Best of Luther Vandross: The Best of Love, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1990 - ISBN 0793502918

[edit] See also

Luther Burger

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Vandross, Luther Ronzoni Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vandross, Luther
SHORT DESCRIPTION American singer, songwriter, and record producer
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 2005
PLACE OF DEATH Edison, New Jersey, United States