Skip to main content

Black History: Luther Vandross


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. (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 KhanBette MidlerDiana RossDavid BowieBarbra StreisandBen 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 protégéRichard Marx.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Perry Blackwell

I love the 1959 movie "Pillow Talk" which starred Doris Day and Rock Hudson.  One of the reasons why it's in my top movie selection is because of the Singer/Actress Perry Blackwell. She only had one scene in the movie and she sang for most of that scene, but what she did with her expressions and mannerisms spoke much much more. She was also in the 1960 movie "Dead Ringer" with Bette Davis and Karl Malden. There is not much info on her available, but I did discover via a message written by her daughter, that she is a classically trained Pianist and self taught organist. She played Hammond Organ for years. Also she played with  Sonny Stitt, Wes Montgomery Bros. , Roy Milton and  Louis Jordan. She worked many gigs around such people as Nancy Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Joe Williams, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie Wilson and Red Foxx. She worked on the New York jazz scence for a few years, Best known for her 7 year stint at The Parisian Room in Los A

Madam C. J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker (December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919), born Sarah Breedlove , was an African-American businesswoman , hair care entrepreneur and philanthropist . She made her fortune by developing and marketing a hugely successful line of beauty and hair products for black women under the company she founded, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove, on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana to Owen and Minerva Breedlove. She was one of six children; she had a sister Louvenia and 4 brothers: Alexander, James, Solomon, and Owen, Jr. Her parents and elder siblings were slaves on a Madison Parish plantation owned by Robert W. Burney. Her mother died, possibly from cholera , in 1872. Her father remarried and died shortly afterward when she was seven years old. Madam C. J. Walker moved in with her older sister, and brother-in-law, Willie Powell. She later said she married Moses McWilliams when she was 14 years old to get a home of h

Janeen Gordon Interview BLUFFCITYLIFE WMC5

LINK BELOW https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/video/2019/03/01/bluff-city-life-mar-pt-8/