| rdfs:comment | - The God of the Lutherans. This article is a stub. You can get a Tip of the Hat* from Stephen by adding only truthiness to it.*Tip of the Hat not guaranteed.
- In 1986, Vandross worked with David Bowie on Labyrinth, contributing backing vocals to the end title version of "Underground." Vandross had previously co-written the song "Fascination" for Bowie's Young Americans album, for which he sang background vocals and performed with him on tour. Vandross also sang backup for Diana Ross and wrote the song "Everybody Rejoice" for the Broadway musical The Wiz, in addition to a long career as a solo performer. His few forays into acting included a cameo in the film Meteor Man and a guest spot on Touched by an Angel.
- Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. was an American soul singer. His many hits include "Never Too Much", "The Best Things In Life Are Free", a duet with Janet Jackson, "Endless Love"' a duet with Mariah Carey, "Give Me The Reason", "Power of Love (Love Power)", "The Closer I Get To You", a duet with Beyonce, "Always and Forever", "Here and Now", "I Can Make It Better" and "If This World Were Mine", a duet with Cherry Lynn. He also collaborated with artists such as Usher, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, David Bowie, Chaka Khan and Donna Summer. Vandross died in 2005 of complications from diabetes; prior to his death, he recorded the album Dance With My Father, the title track of which was dedicated to his late father.
- Luther Ronzoni Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in demand background vocalist for several different artists including Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became the lead singer of the group Change which released its certified gold debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much in 1981.
- Luther Vandross was one of the defining singers and songwriters of R&B/soul during the '80s and '90s. Inspired by '60s and '70s icons such as The Supremes, Patti LaBelle and Dionne Warwick, Vandross got his start by writing “Everybody Rejoice” for the musical (later movie) The Wiz. Unfortunately, his own health troubles had taken a serious toll on him. Vandross suffered a stroke shortly after completing Dance With My Father, leaving him unable to personally accept the four Grammy Awards he won that year.
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| abstract | - Luther Ronzoni Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in demand background vocalist for several different artists including Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became the lead singer of the group Change which released its certified gold debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much in 1981. His hit songs include, "Never Too Much", "Here and Now", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power", "I Can Make It Better" and "For You to Love". Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby", "Superstar" and "Always and Forever". Duets such as "The Closer I Get to You" with Beyoncé, "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hits in his career. During his career, Vandross sold over 25 million records worldwide and received eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father". The song was co-written with Vandross' friend and protégé, Richard Marx.
- Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. was an American soul singer. His many hits include "Never Too Much", "The Best Things In Life Are Free", a duet with Janet Jackson, "Endless Love"' a duet with Mariah Carey, "Give Me The Reason", "Power of Love (Love Power)", "The Closer I Get To You", a duet with Beyonce, "Always and Forever", "Here and Now", "I Can Make It Better" and "If This World Were Mine", a duet with Cherry Lynn. He also collaborated with artists such as Usher, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, David Bowie, Chaka Khan and Donna Summer. Vandross died in 2005 of complications from diabetes; prior to his death, he recorded the album Dance With My Father, the title track of which was dedicated to his late father. His and Mariah Carey's version of "Endless Love" appears in Captain Underpants: The Movie. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson and Carey is voiced by Grey DeLisle. He posthumously performed the end credits version of Undying Love on The Quest for Beasts movie Rise of Babylon alongside Vanessa Williams. The movie is also dedicated to him. He wrote the song What More Could I Give? (A Mother's Love) for Oliver and Company:The Series.
- The God of the Lutherans. This article is a stub. You can get a Tip of the Hat* from Stephen by adding only truthiness to it.*Tip of the Hat not guaranteed.
- Luther Vandross was one of the defining singers and songwriters of R&B/soul during the '80s and '90s. Inspired by '60s and '70s icons such as The Supremes, Patti LaBelle and Dionne Warwick, Vandross got his start by writing “Everybody Rejoice” for the musical (later movie) The Wiz. His big break took place when David Bowie overheard Vandross discussing vocal arrangements with guitarist Carlos Alomar. Vandross was invited by Bowie to sing and arrange background vocals on his Young Americans album. Shortly thereafter, Vandross found fairly steady work as a background and commercial jingle singer, earning the occasional featured vocal credit along the way. In 1981, Vandross released his first solo album, Never Too Much, which quickly found admiration among R&B fans. His next five albums, Forever, For Always, For Love, Busy Body, The Night I Fell In Love, Give Me The Reason and Any Love were also extraordinarily popular. His music is known for being deeply romantic and sensual; it is often joked that if you were born in the 80's or early 90's, there's a chance you owe your conception to him. Vandross, however, also sought crossover success. Later hits such as “Here and Now”, “Power of Love/Love Power”, “The Best Things In Life Are Free” (a duet with Janet Jackson) and “Endless Love” (a duet with Mariah Carey and cover of the Lionel Richie and Diana Ross song) proved very popular with both pop and R&B audiences. The coveted #1 pop spot eluded Vandross until 2003, when he released the title track from his album Dance With My Father, a tribute to his father who passed away when he was eight. Unfortunately, his own health troubles had taken a serious toll on him. Vandross suffered a stroke shortly after completing Dance With My Father, leaving him unable to personally accept the four Grammy Awards he won that year. Vandross died in July of 2005 at the age of 54, leaving behind heartbroken fans and a legacy as one of the greatest solo R&B artists of all time.
- In 1986, Vandross worked with David Bowie on Labyrinth, contributing backing vocals to the end title version of "Underground." Vandross had previously co-written the song "Fascination" for Bowie's Young Americans album, for which he sang background vocals and performed with him on tour. Vandross also sang backup for Diana Ross and wrote the song "Everybody Rejoice" for the Broadway musical The Wiz, in addition to a long career as a solo performer. His few forays into acting included a cameo in the film Meteor Man and a guest spot on Touched by an Angel.
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