Luther Vandross passed away

**nrgbeat** · July 1st, 2005, 05:38 PM

http://insider.tv.yahoo.com/news/ins...t144600002625/

**Davicillo** · July 1st, 2005, 06:20 PM

Tragic. He will be sadly missed. A true artist.
RIP.

**markydefad** · July 1st, 2005, 06:22 PM

Poor Luther; I'm shocked--I really thought he would recover and record again. He was a magnificent singer. :cry:

**keefelc** · July 1st, 2005, 07:09 PM

Me too, Mark! Although I knew it would take a long time (he was in pretty bad shape the last time I saw him on a television interview post stroke), I thought we would one day hear him singing again. Just last week I was wondering why we haven't heard anything on his progress.

**Stan** · July 1st, 2005, 07:21 PM

Very sorry to hear the tragic news :cry:

Excellent voice + brilliants songs

A real loss......RIP Luther V

**efunk_adelic** · July 1st, 2005, 08:28 PM

Timing was bad... he will be missed. :(

R.I.P.

**discosavvy** · July 1st, 2005, 09:00 PM

How sad I heard of this news at the front page of Yahoo! just as I was listening to "Searching" by Change in which he's the lead singer.

Everyone knows he sang for Chic, Change, Bionic Boogie, etc. One of his lesser known works is a 1979 album by the New York City Band featuring Luther Vandross which I hope someday to hear the whole of. Has anyone else heard of New York City Band's album?

What's the deal with his take on "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" from 1997? That's not an album release, and I assume it came from a live concert? It's billed as being by the Spice Girls featuring Luther Vandross.

His last disco contributions:
"Are You Using Me?" by Luther Vandross (1998)
"We Are Family" by Nile Rodgers and Friends (2001) - has Luther as one of the singers

**olskinflint** · July 1st, 2005, 09:10 PM

but it's incredibly sad news nonetheless. Can someone let me know which Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand songs Luther contributed to? And the 4 Tops Renaldo Benson has passed away today also. Although he was less well known, he co-wrote several songs on Marvin Gaye's classic album "What's Going On", including the title track.

**Jimmy-Michaels** · July 1st, 2005, 11:03 PM

****! So it is true :cry: What can I say other than I just heard in a group I belong to people talkin like "Luther will be missed", "Luther was..", and I was like wtf!!!!! So I figured if it was true it would be posted here...and yep, it was. He def will be missed..another one died way too soon before their time

**Voyage** · July 1st, 2005, 11:42 PM

Very sad news, another loss for the disco and music world.

**dvdjamm** · July 1st, 2005, 11:48 PM

a very sad day for all music....luther vandross had one of the most beautiful voices of all....r.i.p.

**K-Bee** · July 2nd, 2005, 01:48 AM

I'm extremely saddened by this. I've been a Luther fan since I was 12 and he was among among the very first artists I ever bought albums with. Even though his 90s output has been somehow unconsistent, I've always continued buying his stuff, mainly because of THAT VOICE.
He was one of the select few artists who was able to make an otherwise bland song very memorable because of his awesome vocal skills.
He will be missed by many.

**darrens** · July 2nd, 2005, 03:48 AM

Very sad news. The extent of Luther's reach across the world of disco cannot be underestimated. :cry:

Before I got seriously into disco, I assumed his career started with the Change LP in 1980. More recently, I keep finding out about songs which Luther sang on. At the moment I'm listening to "See you in L.A." by Mascara, featuring the man himself.

RIP Luther.

**usagi-san** · July 2nd, 2005, 12:41 PM

He also was one of the credited vocalists on the self titled 1978 album by Lemon, on Prelude records PRL 12162 AS. His name is spelled "Luthor Vandross" there, though.

**Videoskooter** · July 2nd, 2005, 01:33 PM

When you followed the reports on his health condition over the past months, you could already fear that the chance of him performing again was very small. But the news of his death came very unexpected tough. Another legend has left us. May he rest in peace.

**DISCODISK** · July 2nd, 2005, 05:42 PM

really sad news R.I.P LUTHER VANDROSS

**remicks** · July 2nd, 2005, 11:42 PM

****

R.I.P. LUTHER VANDROSS

I think part of the tragedy that will be the Luther Vandross story is that he never had that out of the ball park grand slam hit . Not even a solid home run . K-BEE commented that he could take an other wise bland song and make it memorable because of his voice. Don't know why he seemed to choose medicre songs and I don't know why he had such a a hard time with hooking up with the right production team to really showcase his stuff . I listen to his music with frustration .... and will even moreso now... wishing for, waiting for , that which never seemed to quite fully blossom .

*****

**Eurodancemix** · July 3rd, 2005, 07:26 AM

As a session singer, Luther contributed to a vast number of disco projects.

One of my all-time favorites is the "I Get Around" LP by The Good Vibrations (Millenium Records, MNLP 8008, 1978), an album of disco versions of Beach Boys songs. It's infinitely hokey and definitely not something you want to play if you want to convince people that disco is good music, but Luther's vocals come through loud and clear. He definitely made the most of the material given to him and that makes it a guilty pleasure of mine.

As far as Luther never making it to the top of the charts, there's no one else to blame but the record company. He was on his way there in the 80's ("Stop To Love") but, unlike today, marketing people didn't know what to do with a pop star that carried extra pounds and who was so secretive about his personal life. So, they just didn't promote him. Then the 90's came with all the rap crap and the horrid trend of tuneless and melody-less R&B (Usher, Destiny's Child, etc.) and Luther was relegated to being a "just for the fans" type of artist. It took tragedy two years ago for his record company to do any promotion -- and for him to get airplay!

The world lost a fantastic talent on Friday. He will be missed.

**discofresh** · July 3rd, 2005, 10:49 AM

Mt teenage years were filled with great songs from this true gentleman of music. Still cant believe it...he really exemplified "the glow of love" RIP

DJ Boogie Badness

**Pizzazz** · July 3rd, 2005, 05:32 PM

Woke up to the sad news of Luther's passing on Saturday morning. Not entirely unexpected since his stroke two years ago but still a shock. Was on my way out but went upstairs and put on 'Hot Butterfly' and 'The Glow Of Love'. Today i had to play 'I Wanted Your Love', a personal fave from the 'Busy Body' album. Luther Vandross - 'So Amazing' !

**conor l** · July 3rd, 2005, 05:35 PM

Hot butterfly is a brilliant record, tis a shame hes gone

**discodevil** · July 4th, 2005, 02:38 AM

Hi! I didn't know a lot about him, but I did have one single "Its Over Now" which I submited in the A-Z vinyl record section because I could not find anything by him! So any members out there who have some hot Luther records Id love to see them added to the list! Such a great voice! A sad loss too early!

Marcio** · July 4th, 2005, 01:22 PM

I think Luther wrote a song that I really like - ''Take The Boogie Home'' by Bionic Boogie. He sang on rare to find Michael Zager LP from 1980.

**FrontPage22** · July 4th, 2005, 08:45 PM

Thanks for everything Luther..."Searching" no more.

:(

**SandraDee** · July 5th, 2005, 05:59 AM

When i heard the news, it was just after playing 'Sounds & Stuff Like that' by Quincy Jones from '78 which features Luther's vocals quite alot. I liked alot of his solo stuff but he never came up with anything as good as the stuff he did with people like Quincy, Gregg Diamond, Chic etc. One of the best voices of all-time without doubt. It's always the case that the brightest lights burn out too early. :( :cry: