Luther Vandross Biography
Summary
"Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr." (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 and won eight Grammy Awards 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', co-written with Richard Marx.
Biography
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 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. His life-changing moment came when, at the age of thirteen, he heard Dionne Warwick sing 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' (a song he would cover in his later years on a duet with Elton John).
Luther Vandross was in a vocal group in high school, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He was also a member of a theater workshop, 'Listen My Brother' who released a 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.
Vandross attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music.
His next recording credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972. 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. Vandross wrote 'Everybody Rejoice' for the 1975 Broadway musical "The Wiz"; also appearing as a choir member in the movie.
Vandross also sang backing vocals for Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Chic, and Barbra Streisand. Early in his career, Vandross was content to remain mostly in the background, as a producer and backup singer for other artists, but Flack encouraged Vandross to start his own career.
Before his breakthrough, he released two albums with a singing group he formed, also called Luther, on Cotillion Records. The group had a successful single entitled 'It's Good for the Soul', although their two albums, the self-titled "Luther" in 1976 and "This Close to You" in 1977, were not successful. Vandross bought back the rights to these albums after the record label dropped the group, preventing their later re-release.
Vandross also wrote and sang commercials jingles during the late 1970s and early 1980s, earning upwards of $600,000 per year around the New York area. He created and often sang jingles for such advertising campaigns as Kentucky Fried Chicken's 'We Do Chicken Right', NBC's 'Proud As a Peacock' and The US Army's 'Be All You Can Be'. Vandross also voiced a cartoon character named Zack for three Saturday morning animated PSA spots for ABC Television called 'Zack of All Trades'. Vandross continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s. His lead vocals can be heard on the Gregg Diamond produced single 'Hot Butterfly' from "Bionic Boogie" in 1978, which gained moderate club success.
2003-2005: Illness and death
Vandross had diabetes, a disease that ran in his family, as well as hypertension. His alleged penchant for a bacon cheeseburger with doughnuts in place of a bun known as a Luther Burger is considered by many to have influenced his weight. His father, Luther Sr., died of complications from diabetes when Luther Jr. was eight years old. On April 16, 2003, just 4 days before his 52nd birthday, Vandross suffered a stroke in his home in Manhattan. 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'. 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.
His funeral was in New York City on July 8, 2005. After two days of viewing, Vandross was laid to rest in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.
Personal life
During Vandross's entire career, he was dogged by questions regarding his sexuality. A lifelong bachelor, his name was never romantically linked in the media with women. Although Vandross never came out of the closet, he also never explicitly denied being a homosexual, and generally attempted to steer questioners away from the issue altogether by saying that his busy lifestyle made marriage difficult and indicated that it was not what he wanted. After his death, an article in Out magazine had several of Vandross' friends, including gay comedy writer Bruce Vilanch, claiming that Luther was indeed a closeted gay man.
Influences and followers
Vandross was inspired by the soul divas of the 1960s and 1970s: Dionne Warwick, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, and Aretha Franklin, whom he eventually produced.
Vandross' songs have also been performed numerous times by "American Idol" contestants. Notable covers include Season 1 Finalist Tamyra Gray's version of 'Dance With My Father' on "Boston Public", R&B artist Keyshia Cole's version of 'Never Too Much' on her 2005 debut album "The Way It Is".
Vandross performed many covers of older songs, such as 'Since I Lost My Baby' (originally recorded by The Temptations), 'Love the One You're With' (originally recorded by Stephen Stills), 'Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me' ('Superstar' was a hit for The Carpenters and 'Until You Come Back To Me' was a 1974 hit for Aretha Franklin), 'Love Won't Let Me Wait' (originally recorded by Major Harris), 'Always and Forever' (originally recorded by Heatwave), 'If This World Were Mine' (a duet with Cheryl Lynn, originally recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell), 'Creepin" and 'Knocks Me Off My Feet' (both originally recorded by Stevie Wonder), 'Hello' (the 1984 number-one hit by Lionel Richie), 'Lovely Day' (originally recorded by Bill Withers), 'Killing Me Softly' (a hit for Roberta Flack) and the Bacharach/David standard, 'A House Is Not A Home.' Vandross's hit 'Love Power' included snippets of the soul classic 'The Power of Love'. Another hit, 'Bad Boy (Having a Party)', contained a passage from Sam Cooke's 'Having a Party'.
Legacy
Tribute
On July 27, 2004, GRP Records released a smooth jazz various artists tribute album, "Forever, For Always, For Luther", with ten popular songs written by Luther. The album featured vocal arrangements by Luther, and was produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner. Rideout had co-authored songs and contributed arrangements and played keyboards on Luther's final three albums. The tribute album was mixed by Ray Bardani, who recorded and mixed most of Luther's music over the years. It featured an ensemble of smooth jazz performers, many of whom had previously worked with Luther.
On September 20, 2005, the album "So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross" was released. The album is a collection of some of Luther's songs performed by various artists, including Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Fantasia, Beyoncé, Donna Summer, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Angie Stone, Jamie Foxx and Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin won a Grammy for her rendition of 'A House Is Not a Home,' and Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé won a Grammy for their cover of 'So Amazing.'
On November 21, 2006, saxophonist Dave Koz released a followup to the earlier smooth jazz GRP tribute album, this time on his own Rendezvous Entertainment label, an album called "Forever, For Always, For Luther Volume II", also produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner. Dave Koz played on all the featured Luther Vandross tracks, which were recorded by various smooth jazz artists.
Posthumous 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 will release a 4 disc box set entitled Love Luther. It will feature all of Vandross' hits throughout his 24 year career. A single will be released from the box set entitled, 'There's Only You'
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
External links
All Music Guide (entry)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Luther Vandross.
