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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZVANDROSS, Luther(b 20 April '51, NYC; d 1 July 2005) Soul singer. Began singing commercial jingles; became top session vocalist and arranger, backing stars such as David Bowie, Bette Midler, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer; worked with Quincy Jones and with Italian disco band Change; contributed to films The Wiz and Bustin' Loose, finally busted loose as solo artist to wide acclaim. LPs Never Too Much '81, Forever, For Always, For Love '82 (released '87 in UK), Busy Body '83, The Night I Fell In Love '85, Give Me The Reason '86 on Epic all charted well in USA; ten singles hits included a duet with Dionne Warwick on 'How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye' from Busy Body, his first album to chart in the UK, where Luther Vandross '81 was a compilation from his first two LPs. Any Love '88 was his first top ten USA; two-LP Best Of '89 was followed by Power Of Love '91, Never Let Me Go '93. Mariah Carey was a Vandross fan and lobbied her then husband, Columbia boss Tommy Mottola, who came up with the idea for Songs '94, an album of cover versions for the fans including 'Killing Me Softly', 'Always And Forever', 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now': it went to no. 5, the biggest of all hit albums from a much-loved voice. He did a Christmas album '95, then never fully recovered from a stroke suffered on 16 April 2003. His album Dance With My Father 2004 debuted at No. 1 in the Billboard chart while he was still hospitalised, and won a Grammy that year. |