Luther Vandross

Early life

Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was born on April 20, 1951, at Bellevue Hospital in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Vandross was African-American. His birth occurred concurrently with General Douglas MacArthur's ticker-tape parade throughout the city. He was the fourth and youngest child (his older siblings were Patricia, Ann, Anthony) as well as the younger son of Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross Sr. His father was an upholsterer and singer, and his mother was a nurse. Vandross was raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the Alfred E. Smith Houses public housing development. At the age of three, having his own phonograph, Vandross taught himself to play the piano by ear.

His father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old. In 2003, Vandross wrote the song "Dance with My Father" and dedicated it to him; the title was based on his childhood memories and his mother's recollections of the family singing and dancing in the house. His family moved to the Bronx when he was nine. His older sisters, Patricia "Pat" and Ann, began taking Vandross to the Apollo Theater and to a theater in Brooklyn to see Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin perform. Patricia sang with the vocal group The Crests and was featured on the songs "My Juanita" and "Sweetest One".

Vandross graduated from William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx in 1969. He attended Western Michigan University for one-and-a-half semesters before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music.

Career

While in high school, Vandross founded the first Patti LaBelle fan club, of which he was president. He formed a quartet with other students and won a summer talent show. Because each member of the quartet attended a different school, the quartet broke up. Vandross then formed a new group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater. During his early years in show business, he appeared several times at the Apollo's famous amateur night.

Vandross, along with some members of his previous two groups, joined Listen My Brother, a workshop group based at the Apollo Theater. They released one single "Only Love Can Make a Better World". The group performed in front of tens of thousands at the Harlem Cultural Festival in late August 1969. Directly afterward, the group appeared in the pilot episode and other episodes of the first season of Sesame Street during 1969–1970.

Session work and groups

Starting in 1972, Vandross began a career as a session vocalist, starting with adding backing vocals to Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway in 1972, and worked on Delores Hall's Hall-Mark album (1973), duetting with her on the song "Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me", a song he wrote, and contributed another song, "In This Lonely Hour". In 1974, he began working with British rocker David Bowie on his album, Young Americans. In addition to contributing background vocals, most notably on the title track, which Vandross himself conducted the background, Vandross allowed Bowie to use his composition, "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)", and he and Bowie re-wrote as "Fascination". Vandross joined Bowie's tour as a backing vocalist in September 1974. Vandross also contributed the song, "Everybody Rejoice", to the Broadway musical, The Wiz (1975). During this era, Vandross would back several artists including Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Ben E. King, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Gary Glitter, Ringo Starr, Sister Sledge, and Donna Summer, and for the bands Mandrill, Chic, Roxy Music, and Todd Rundgren's Utopia.

In 1975, Vandross formed his own band, Luther, which consisted of former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, as well as Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire. The band signed with Cotillion Records that year and released their self-titled debut, Luther, which featured the relatively successful top 40 R&B singles "It's Good for the Soul" and "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)", in 1976. A year later, the band dropped their second and final album, This Close to You (1977), featuring the top 40 R&B hit "The Second Time Around". In 1977, the band opened for Marvin Gaye at Radio City Music Hall. Neither of the band's albums sold enough copies to make the charts. After Cotillion dropped the group, Vandross bought back the rights to those albums, preventing them from being re-released. Both albums were eventually re-released in 2024. From 1977 until the early 1980s, Vandross wrote and sang commercial jingles for companies such as NBC, Mountain Dew, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, and Juicy Fruit. A year prior, in 1976, Vandross' "Everybody Rejoice" was used in a Kodak commercial.

Vandross was noted for his work with the disco group, Chic, heavily conducting background vocals for most of the band's albums, most prominently on songs such as "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)", "Everybody Dance" and "Le Freak". In 1978, he sang lead vocals for Gregg Diamond's disco band, Bionic Boogie, on the song titled "Hot Butterfly" and sang a duet with Patti Austin on the song "I'm Gonna Miss You in the Morning" on Quincy Jones's Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! that same year. Later, "Hot Butterfly" was covered by Chaka Khan on her 1980 album, Naughty, under the name, "Papillon", in which Vandross contributed background vocals. Around the time of him working on Khan's album, Vandross met a teenage Whitney Houston, who had been brought to the studio by her mother and Vandross' fellow session singing partner Cissy Houston. The two young singers forged a lifelong friendship. In 1980, Vandross had his career breakthrough when he became the featured singer in the pop-dance act, Change, a studio concept created by French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. Vandross sang lead vocals on the group's hits, "The Glow of Love" and "Searching". In a 2001 interview with Vibe, Vandross said "The Glow of Love" 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 was originally intended to perform on their second and highly successful album Miracles in 1981, but declined the offer as Petrus didn't pay enough money. Vandross's decision led to a recording contract with Epic Records that same year, but he also provided background vocals on "Miracles" and on the new Petrus-created act, the B. B. & Q. Band in 1981.

Early solo career

Vandross signed a solo deal with Epic Records shortly after his tenure with Change. Later in 1981, he released his debut album, Never Too Much, which topped the Billboard R&B Albums chart. The self-penned and produced title track was an immediate success, topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for two weeks and peaked at number four on the National Disco Action Top 80 chart, while the post-disco track crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, peaking inside the top 40. Its follow-up single, "Don't You Know That?", peaked at number 10 on the Billboard soul charts. The album marked the beginning of a songwriting collaboration with bassist Marcus Miller, who played on many of the tracks and would also produce or co-produce several tracks for Vandross. The Never Too Much album was arranged by Vandross's high school classmate, Nat Adderley Jr., a collaboration that would last throughout Vandross's career. It was also notable for his reinterpretation and "radical" re-arrangement of Dionne Warwick's "A House Is Not a Home", which while it didn't chart, became one of his well known songs and would remain a showstopper in Vandross's concert tours for the remainder of his career. Never Too Much would eventually be certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and its success led to Vandross winning one of his first Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist in 1982. During 1982, Vandross began producing for other artists, most notably Cheryl Lynn's Instant Love and Aretha Franklin's Jump to It. On the former, Vandross and Lynn released a slow jam rendition of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "If This World Were Mine", which peaked at number four on the newly renamed Black Singles chart. Vandross' work on Franklin's Jump to It led to the title track topping the R&B chart and the album itself became Franklin's first gold-certified album in six years.

His sophomore album, Forever, For Always, For Love, was released in 1982 and topped the R&B Albums chart, going platinum thanks to hits such as "Bad Boy/Having a Party" and his rendition of the Temptations' "Since I Lost My Baby". The song, "She Loves Me Back", was later covered by New Zealand band DD Smash, who had a local hit cover with the song two years later. The title track and "Promise Me" also became popular songs on R&B radio. In 1983, Vandross produced Aretha Franklin's Get It Right, which featured the title track, which topped the R&B charts. In the same year, Vandross worked with his main musical influence, Dionne Warwick, producing Warwick's album, How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye. The title track duet was Vandross's second top 40 pop hit and also reached the top five of the Adult Contemporary chart. On the same album, Warwick recorded the Vandross ballad, "So Amazing", which became a Vandross solo hit several years later. "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" was featured on Vandross' third album, Busy Body, released in November 1983 and became his third consecutive number one R&B album and was notable for the ballad "Make Me a Believer" as well as "Superstar"/"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", which reached the top five of the Black Singles chart in 1984 and became another signature staple for Vandross. Vandross was the voice of a cartoon character named Zack for ABC's Zack of All Trades, a three Saturday morning animated PSA spots.

Later solo career

In 1990, Vandross wrote, produced and sang background for Whitney Houston in a song titled "Who Do You Love" which appeared on her album I'm Your Baby Tonight. In the same year, he guest starred in the series finale of the television sitcom 227. In 1991, Vandross' seventh studio album, Power of Love, was released and became his seventh consecutive number one R&B studio album. The album produced two crossover top ten hit ballads, "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool" and became his fourth multi-platinum album, with the former track winning Vandross two Grammy Awards at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards in 1992. That same year, Vandross scored an international hit duet with Janet Jackson on the song, "The Best Things in Life Are Free", from the movie Mo' Money. It topped the Hot R&B Singles chart and peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, while also reaching number two in the United Kingdom. It's notable for being Vandross' final song to top the R&B chart. In 1993, he 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. His next album, Never Let Me Go, broke Vandross' streak of number one R&B albums, peaking at number three, though it continued Vandross's streak of platinum albums. That following year, with production from Walter Afanasieff, Vandross released the covers album, Songs, which featured his top ten hit cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's duet "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey, which peaked at number two.

Despite his success with Epic, however, Vandross was beginning to feel neglected by the label as it focused on younger pop artists rather than him. In 1996, he released what would be his final studio release with the label, Your Secret Love. The title track reached the top five of the R&B singles chart and reached number 14 in the UK, while only being moderately successful on the Billboard Hot 100 though it still resulted in another Grammy win in 1997 for Vandross. On January 26, 1997, Vandross sang the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", during Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. It was included in many best-of lists as one of the best versions of the national anthem performed at the Super Bowl. Following the release of a second compilation album, Vandross left Epic that year and signed with Virgin Records, releasing the album, I Know. The album reached number 26 on the Billboard 200 and number nine on the R&B albums chart upon release, becoming his lowest charting studio release of his career and breaking his streak of platinum albums, only going gold. Vandross left Virgin shortly afterwards and remained a free agent until he signed with J Records in 2000. With the label's president Clive Davis at the helm, Vandross worked with contemporary R&B producers on his self-titled album, Luther Vandross. The lead single, "Take You Out", reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his most successful single in several years, helping the album to go platinum.

Posthumous releases

J Records released a song in 2006, "Shine" – an upbeat R&B track that samples Chic's disco song "My Forbidden Lover" – which reached No. 31 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song was originally slated to be released on the soundtrack to the movie, The Fighting Temptations, but it was shelved. A later remix of the song peaked at No. 10 on the Club Play chart. "Shine" and a track titled "Got You Home" were previously unreleased songs on The Ultimate Luther Vandross (2006), 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 boxed set titled Love, Luther. It features nearly all of Vandross's R&B and pop hits throughout 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 had originally appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Made in Heaven. In October 2015, Sony Music released a re-configured edition of its The Essential Luther Vandross compilation containing three unreleased songs: "Love It, Love It" (which made its premiere a year prior on the UK compilation The Greatest Hits), a live recording of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with Paul Simon and Jennifer Holliday, and a cover of Astrud Gilberto's "Look to the Rainbow".

Personal life

Vandross never married and had no children. His mother outlived all four of her children. Vandross was predeceased by his three elder siblings.

Sexual orientation

In 2006, Bruce Vilanch, a friend and colleague of Vandross, told Out magazine, "He said to me, 'No one knows I'm in the life.' ... He had very few sexual contacts". According to Vilanch, Vandross experienced his longest romantic relationship with a man while living in Los Angeles during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In December 2017, twelve years after his death, Vandross's friend Patti LaBelle confirmed that he was homosexual and that his sexuality was an open secret in the music industry. LaBelle further stated that "[Vandross] had a lot of lady fans" and "he just didn't want to upset the world".

In December 1985, Vandross filed a libel suit against a British magazine after it attributed his 85-pound weight loss to AIDS. He weighed 325 pounds (147 kg) when he started a diet in May of that year.

1986 car accident

After signing Jimmy Salvemini and having completed his debut album Roll It, Vandross, Salvemini, and Salvemini's brother and manager Larry decided to celebrate. On January 12, 1986, they were riding in Vandross's convertible on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, in the north section of Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. Vandross was driving at 50 mph (80 km/h) in a 35 mph (56 km/h) zone when he veered across the double yellow center line of the two lane street, turned sideways and collided with the front of a southbound car, then swung around and hit another car head on. Vandross and Salvemini were rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Larry Salvemini, who was in the passenger seat, was killed in the collision. Vandross suffered three broken ribs, a broken hip, several bruises and facial cuts. Jimmy Salvemini, who was in the back of the car, had cuts, bruises, and contusions. Vandross faced vehicular manslaughter charges as a result of Larry's death, and his driving license was suspended for a year. There was no evidence that Vandross was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs; he pleaded no contest to reckless driving. At first, the Salvemini family was supportive of Vandross, but later filed a wrongful death suit against him. The case was settled out of court with a payment to the Salvemini family of approximately $630,000.

Health problems and death

Vandross had diabetes and hypertension. On April 16, 2003, he had a severe stroke at his home in New York City and was in a coma for nearly two months. The stroke affected his ability to speak and sing and required him to use a wheelchair. He later regained the ability to walk as well as speak and sing.

At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Vandross appeared in a pre-taped video segment to accept his Song of the Year Award for "Dance with My Father", saying, "When I say good-bye, it's never for long, because I believe in the power of love" (Vandross sang the last six words). His mother, Mary, accepted the award in person on his behalf. His last public appearance was on May 6, 2004, on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Vandross died on July 1, 2005, at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, at the age of 54 from a heart attack. Like his father and his three elder siblings, Vandross died due to complications of diabetes and asthma.

Vandross's funeral was held at Riverside Church in New York City on July 8, 2005. Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick and Cissy Houston were among the speakers and singers at the service. Vandross was buried at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

Artistry

Possessing a tenor vocal range, Vandross was commonly referred to as "The Velvet Voice", and was sometimes called "The Best Voice of a Generation". He was also regarded as the "Pavarotti of Pop" by many critics.

Achievements

Between Never Too Much in 1981 and Your Secret Love in 1996, all of Vandross' studio releases went platinum or more in the United States. Along with a 1989 compilation, Vandross had twelve consecutive million-selling albums, a record at the time for a male R&B artist. Except for his 1998 Virgin album, I Know, all of Vandross' studio releases were certified platinum or more. Of the thirteen, five of those albums went multiplatinum.

Vandross was also one of the most accomplished charting artists on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart throughout his career. Between 1981 and 1996, Vandross scored at least one top 40 single a year on the chart. Vandross sent 47 songs to the chart between 1981 and 2006, including two posthumous entries, of which 37 peaked inside the top 40, 27 reached the top ten, 18 reached the top five and seven of those songs topped the chart between 1981 and 1992. Between "Any Love" (1988) and "Little Miracles (Happen Every Day)" (1993), Vandross achieved eleven consecutive top ten singles on the chart.

Vandross had a more moderate but still significant success on the Billboard Hot 100, sending 25 songs to the chart between 1981 and 2003, including 12 songs inside the top 40 and six top ten singles.

Legacy

Vandross has been cited as an inspiration by a number of other artists, including 112, Boyz II Men, D'Angelo, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jaheim, John Legend, Mint Condition, Ne-Yo, Ruben Studdard, and Usher. Stokley Williams, the lead singer of Mint Condition, has said that he has "studied Luther for such a long time because he was the epitome of perfect tone." On his influence, John Legend has said, "All us people making slow jams now, we was inspired by the slow jams Luther Vandross was making."

Emmett Price, professor of ethnomusicology at Boston's Northeastern University, stated that Vandross's vocal range had him singing "one smooth hit after the other, without duplicating a rhythm or style", further explaining, "He was a transitory figure. He was a bridge between the era of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. He made it relate to a contemporary audience."

In 2008, Vandross was ranked No. 54 on Rolling Stone magazine's List of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Fifteen years later, in 2023, the magazine ranked him No. 31 in their list of 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Mariah Carey said in several interviews that standing next to Vandross while recording their duet "Endless Love" was intimidating. In 2010, NPR included Vandross in its 50 Greatest Voices in recorded history, saying Vandross represents "the platinum standard for R&B song stylings." The announcement was made on NPR's All Things Considered on November 29, 2010.

In 2014, Vandross posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2021, Vandross was inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. Vandross' debut album, Never Too Much, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2025. In February 2026, Vandross received his first nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 19 years after he was first eligible for induction. Vandross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2026, a few days before what would've been his 75th birthday.

Tributes

In 1999, Whitney Houston sang Vandross' "So Amazing" as a tribute to Vandross as he sat in the audience during the Soul Train Awards. Johnny Gill, El DeBarge, and Kenny Lattimore provided background vocals. On July 27, 2004, GRP Records released a smooth jazz various artists tribute album, Forever, for Always, for Luther, including ten popular songs written by Vandross. The album featured vocal arrangements by Luther and was produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner. Rideout had co-authored songs, contributed arrangements and played keyboards on Vandross'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 Vandross.

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 his songs performed by various artists, including Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Fantasia, Beyoncé, Donna Summer, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Babyface, John Legend, Angie Stone, Jamie Foxx, and Teddy Pendergrass. 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 follow-up 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. Koz played on all the featured Luther Vandross tracks, which were recorded by various smooth jazz artists. On April 20, 2021, Google celebrated his 70th birthday with a Google Doodle of an animated clip that plays Vandross's song "Never Too Much".

The 2024 documentary Luther: Never Too Much chronicles Vandross's life, career, and legacy.

Discography

Never Too Much (1981)

Forever, for Always, for Love (1982)

Busy Body (1983)

The Night I Fell in Love (1985)

Give Me the Reason (1986)

Any Love (1988)

Power of Love (1991)

Never Let Me Go (1993)

Songs (1994)

This Is Christmas (1995)

Your Secret Love (1996)

I Know (1998)

Luther Vandross (2001)

Dance with My Father (2003)

Tours

Luther Tour (1981)

Forever, for Always, for Love Tour (1982–1983)

Busy Body Tour (1984)

The Night I Fell in Love Tour (1985–1986)

Give Me the Reason Tour (1987)

The Heat (with Anita Baker) (1988)

Any Love World Tour (1989)

Best of Love Tour (1990)

The Power of Love Tour (1991)

Never Let Me Go World Tour (1993–1995)

Your Secret Love World Tour (1997)

Luther & Vanessa Live! (with Vanessa Williams) (1997)

Take You Out Tour (2001–2002)

BK Got Music Summer Soul Tour (with Gerald Levert, Angie Stone and Michelle Williams) (2002)

Awards

Grammy Awards

Soul Train Music Awards

American Music Awards

Hollywood Walk of Fame

National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame

Grammy Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame