By Aria Ellise
BlackDoctor
https://blackdoctor.org/
What can be said about the velvety voice of singer, songwriter Luther Vandross? Songs like “Never Too Much”, “Glow of Love”, “A House Is Not A Home”, “If This World Were Mine” and “Dance With My Father” are considered by many as timeless tunes that still live on to this day. Played at weddings, family gatherings or just cleaning up at home, Luther’s songs are consider the ultimate love songs even after his death in 2005.
CNN’s latest documentary, Luther: Never Too Much (January 2025) documents the drive and struggles of Luther Vandross, a man of astounding talent and extreme contrasts. One of the greatest love-song singers to walk the earth, period! He privately ached for a bond like the ones he seemed to sing intimately about, and faced a business structure with little faith in the marketability of a singer of his size and complexion.
Luther wanted full recognition for his talents. Watching the documentary, it was evident he felt he didn’t get his just due as a singer, songwriter, producer, arranger and composer. Now, Black America knows we love us some Luther now, but as an artist, feeling pigeonholed by forces outside of your own control, he may not have felt all that love before his passing.
That frustration was evident in Luther’s quest for a Grammy Award — a frustration he openly shared amongst his collaborators and friends. He didn’t win one until 1991, eight years after embarking on his solo career, and after nine nominations — he finally won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy for “Here and Now.”
How Did Luther Get His Start?
Many don’t know but Luther got his big break from the late rock legend, David Bowie. Once again, it was his love of music that impressed Bowie.
“It was ’74. My friend Carlos, whom I had grown up with, got a job playing guitar for David Bowie,” explains Vandross. “Carlos invited me to the studio. He and his wife, Robin, had gotten married a couple of years before and he is also a singer. As a matter of fact, Robin is one of the girls with whom I used to sing in the hallway in high school with.”
“I stated making little vocal arrangements and showing them to Robin. I didn’t know that Bowie had overheard all this. He was sitting right behind me at the board, and he said, ‘That’s a great idea. Put that down.’ So I put it down and next thing you know one thing led to another, and I was doing the vocal arrangements for the whole album. I wrote one of the songs on the album. Bowie overheard it and said, ‘I want to record that. Do you mind?’”
“Bowie went back in the studio to add this song. After that addition, Bowie changed the name of that song, then the album was finished. From there, the invitation to join him in the studio and on tour came and the rest is history.”
After a few years with Bowie, Luther took a leap of faith and ventured out on his own with a group called Change. Then the famed singer went out on his own. But Luther’s success did not come without a price. The long nights and roads started to get to him. Luther dealt with his loneliness by eating, and his weight fluctuated between 190-340 pounds during his adult life. But no matter what size he was or what he may have been going through, Luther sang and spoke about using love to heal.
Luther’s Struggle With His Health
Vandross suffered from diabetes and hypertension, both of which may have been brought on by family genetics as well as lifestyle and nutrition. He had just finished the final vocals for the album Dance With My Father, when on April 16, 2003 he suffered a severe stroke at his home in New York City. The stroke left him in a coma for nearly two months, during which time he also had to fight both meningitis and pneumonia (which required a tracheotomy). The stroke also left Vandross with noticeable difficulty speaking and singing, as well as confinement to a wheelchair.
Vandross appeared briefly on videotape at the 2004 Grammy Awards to accept his Song of the Year Award for “Dance With My Father”. In addition to thanking his fans for their support throughout his ordeal and recovery, he said, “When I say goodbye it’s never for long, because I believe in the power of love” (he sang the last six words). Following an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he was never seen in public again. Vandross died on July 1, 2005 at the age of 54. The apparent cause of death was a heart attack.
Why Love Was So Important to Luther
All his life, Luther struggled to find love: whether it be his own personal relationships, love from the music industry, or just genuine love from fans. Luther not only sung about it, he wanted to live it.
“I sing about love, but I also sing about introspection and emotional status and the emotional journey that people go through during the course of a day and how it can affect you — all the decisions that you make for your life. It’s not ‘meet me in the shower’ and ‘let’s rub oil on each other.’ It’s not to say that those who sing about those things are bad, I just personally believe in the healing power of love.”
The Healing Power of Love
And there is some truth to it. Studies across the world have shown how love, or the caring for others can actually show physical changes. Here are three ways how LOVE truly can heal:
1. Natural Pain Control
More activation in the part of the brain that keeps pain under control. In a study of more than 127,000 adults, married people were less likely to complain of headaches and back pain.
2. Stress Management
There is evidence of a link between social support and stress management. If you lose your job, for example, it helps emotionally and financially if a partner is there to support you.
3. Longer Life
A growing body of research indicates that married people live longer. One of the largest studies examines the effect of marriage on mortality during an eight-year period in the 1990s. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, researchers found that people who had never been married were 58% more likely to die than married people.
“You know that question a lot of interviewers ask,” Luther shares. “They ask, ‘How do you want to be remembered?’ I want to be remembered as—and I’m serious about this—I want to be remembered as one of the premier singers of our time. Period.”
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