And there was no doubt about whether Vandross liked the song “The Glow of Love”. Their 1980 hits, “A Lover’s Holiday” (by Romani and Willoughby), “The Glow of Love” (by Romani, Malavasi and Garfield) and “Searching” (by Malavasi), of which Vandross sang on all three, opened up the world for Vandross. ” Luther Vandross finally made his long desired career breakthrough as a featured singer with the vaunted pop-dance act Change, a studio concept created by French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. Luther also sang lead vocals for a disco band called Greg Diamond’s Bionic Boogie singing lead for the song titled “Hot Butterfly. Vandross also wrote and sang commercials jingles during the late 1970s and early 1980s,continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, also called Luther, signed to Cotillion Records. His next recording credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972.īefore his breakthrough, Vandross was part of a singing quintet in the late ’70s, consisting of former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, Theresa V. Vandross attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music. His sister Patricia sang with vocal group The Crests Luther Vandross was in a high school group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He grew up in a musical family that moved to the Bronx when he was thirteen. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City in the Smith Housing Project, Vandross began playing the piano at the age of three. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums co-written with Richard Marx. Luther Ronzoni Vandross (Ap– July 1, 2005) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer. 'Luther made each of his songs about one simple, universal subject - love an emotion and feeling common to the human experience no matter who you are, where you're from or what you look like.Today JLuther Vandross died four years ago today!! I just want to keep him out front. 'It is a true reflection of Luther Vandross' musical legacy around the world to be honored by Google with an animated video Doodle that fittingly captures the joy Luther has brought the world,' the family said in a statement provided by Google. Vandross' family praised Google's tribute for capturing the essence of his songs. The album captured four Grammys, including best song for the bittersweet title track that recalls childhood memories of his father, who died when Vandross was 8. Vandross stopped making public appearances after suffering a stroke in 2003 but made a dramatic return to the charts that year with the album Dance with My Father. 1 on the R&B charts and was the first of 14 studio albums that went either platinum or multiplatinum.

His debut studio album Never Too Much, which provides the soundtrack for Tuesday's doodle, reached No. His career picked up in 1975, when he co-wrote David Bowie's Fascination and Everybody Rejoice for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz.Īs an in-demand backup singer, he performed with a wide range of artists, including Bowie, Diana Ross, Cat Stevens and Roberta Flack, before launching a solo career in 1981.

(Patricia was a member of the Crests, a doo-wop group known for the 1958 hit 16 Candles.)Īfter graduation, Vandross began performing his own songs at Amateur Night at Harlem's Apollo Theater and joined a theater workshop, Listen My Brother, which appeared in several episodes of Sesame Street's first season.

His mother encouraged Vandross' musical interest and education, and he frequently accompanied his sister Patricia to see Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin perform. He taught himself to play the piano at the age of 3 and founded a Patti LaBelle fan club while in high school. showed a keen interest in music while growing up in New York's Lower Eastside and the Bronx. Born April 20, 1951, Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr.

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