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| Birth Name(s) : Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Singer, songwriter, record producer |
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Full Luther Vandross Biography
Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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" |
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