Vandross had become a superstar with black audiences, but he often appeared frustrated about the difficulty of crossing into wider pop stardom. Through the 1980's, he released a string of hit albums, including "Forever, for Always, for Love," "Busy Body" and Any Love." He finally signed a contract with Epic Records, which released his 1981 debut, "Never Too Much," which reached the top of the R&B charts and sold more than one million copies, effectively sparking his career as a star. In the late 1970's, he recorded under different names and with a variety of groups, including Bionic Boogie and Change, and sang on the Chic hit "Dance, Dance, Dance."
Vandross soon became a sought-after backup singer and arranger, working for artists from Bette Midler to Barbra Streisand, and he helped pay the bills as an anonymous performer of commercial jingles.
Vandross wrote, "Everybody Rejoice," was included in the Broadway musical "The Wiz." But his biggest early break came when he landed a job as a backup singer for the British glam-rock artist David Bowie, who later hired him to work on vocal arrangements for the album "Young Americans." Dreaming of a career in music, he briefly attended Western Michigan University. Vandross developed an affinity for the legendary Motown label's all-female acts, and for the gospel-soul sounds of artists like Aretha Franklin and Cissy Houston. Vandross was still a boy, leaving his mother, a nurse, to support the family. His father, an upholsterer, died when Mr. Vandross was the youngest of four children. He ranked as one of the most successful R&B singers of the 1980's and broke through to even wider commercial success in 1989 with "The Best of Luther Vandross, the Best of Love," which included the new song "Here and Now," his first Top 10 hit.īorn in New York City in 1951, Mr. Vandross also appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show later that year, when she visited him as he underwent rehabilitation. "Remember, when I say goodbye, it's never for long," he said, breaking into a signature hit, "because I believe in the power of love." He delivered his acceptance speech on the video. He won four that night, including best song for "Dance With My Father," a bittersweet reflection on his youth. Vandross, whose supple tenor and smooth delivery drew ecstatic swoons from his fans, had kept a low profile since the stroke, though he did appear on videotape at the annual Grammy telecast in 2004, when he was a sentimental favorite to win several awards. Vandross "had a peaceful passing under the watchful eye of friends, family and the medical support team." It added that he "never fully recovered" from a stroke he suffered at his Manhattan apartment on April 16, 2003. The medical center, which did not disclose the cause, released a statement saying that Mr. Luther Vandross, the silky-voiced R&B crooner who spun romance into hits like "Here and Now" and "Any Love," winning eight Grammy Awards, died yesterday afternoon at John F.