I WonderLuther Vandross

Luther Vandross

Luther Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who made “Luther” a household name in the 1980s with his tenor tone on #1 R&B hits such as “Never Too Much,” “Stop To Love,” “Any Love,” and “Here and Now.” He continued the hits into the ‘90s with “Power of Love/Love Power” and his duet with Janet Jackson “The Best Things in Life are Free.” He also released the hit song “Dance With My Father” in 2003, which went on to win Song of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards while the album of the same name peaked at #1 on the Billboard charts and also won a Grammy for Best R&B Album. During his career, he won eight Grammy Awards, sold over 30 million albums and also produced hits for other artists such as Aretha Franklin (“Jump To It” and “Get It Right”).

Luther broke into the music business as a background singer in the 1970s for artists such as David Bowie, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Chic, Sister Sledge, Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer among others. He was also a vocal arranger and songwriter, creating songs such as “Everybody Rejoice (Brand New Day)” used in the Broadway musical The Wiz. After releasing two albums with the group Luther in 1976 and 1977, his profile began to rise with his lead features on the group Change’s 1980 hits “Searching” and “The Glow of Love.” Luther’s debut album Never Too Much was released in 1981 and hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart. His five subsequent albums through 1991 also peaked at #1 on the R&B chart and are certified Platinum. All six of these albums featured contributions from his longtime musical partners Marcus Miller and Nat Adderley Jr, and the trio continued to work together on Luther’s Gold and Platinum albums up through his last, 2003’s Dance With My Father.

Luther was also known for his remakes that outshined the originals. Songs like Major Harris' “Love Won’t Let Me Wait”, Dionne Warwick’s “A House is Not a Home”, Brenda Russell’s “If Only For One Night”, The Carpenters' “Superstar”, The Temptations' “Since I Lost My Baby”, Stevie Wonder’s “Creepin'” and his duet cover with Cheryl Lynn of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic “If This World Were Mine” all became associated with Luther. He even won a Grammy in 2004 along with Beyoncé in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category for their cover of the Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway duet “The Closer I Get To You.” His music has also been sampled in many hip-hop hits such as Jay Z’s “Excuse Me Miss” and the Twista/Kanye West/Jamie Foxx collaboration “Slow Jamz” among others.