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Luther Vandross

Luther Vandross placed eight albums and seven singles at number one on the R&B charts between 1981 and 2005. His run of 11 consecutive platinum or double-platinum albums lasted from 1981 to 1996, and he has sold over 40 million records worldwide. In March 1989 he became the first male artist to sell out 10 consecutive shows at London’s Wembley Arena, in January 1997 he sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXI, and in 2004 he won four Grammy Awards, among them Song of the Year for “Dance With My Father.” In April 2026, in the first year he was nominated, he was named an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Luther Vandross Foundation carries on his commitment to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, providing financial assistance toward their degrees.

A New Yorker born in 1951, Vandross started his music career in high school, playing Amateur Night at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre four times. He began contributing background vocals in 1973 and spent years as a session vocalist and arranger for acts including David Bowie and Bette Midler; he created the hook for Bowie’s “Young Americans” and co-wrote “Fascination” for the same album, and in 1974 he wrote “Everybody Rejoice/Brand New Day” for the Broadway musical The Wiz. He was also the singer of “Searching” and “The Glow of Love,” two hits for the disco group Change. His solo debut, Never Too Much, arrived in 1981, and its title track went to number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

His 1981 recording of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “A House Is Not a Home” helped launch him alongside that title track. Through the 1980s he crossed over to the pop charts, and he produced records for Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, and Whitney Houston. He had five Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, among them “Here and Now,” “Endless Love,” his duet with Mariah Carey, and the Grammy winner “Power of Love/Love Power.” In 2003 CBS Sports began using his rendition of “One Shining Moment” in its coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and that year Dance With My Father debuted at number one; the RIAA certified it double platinum in 2004.

Before his death on July 1, 2005, Vandross won eight Grammy Awards in all, and in 2025 Never Too Much was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020) includes Never Too Much at 362.

In October 2021 his estate joined forces with Primary Wave Music on his publishing, master recording income, and name and likeness rights. In November 2024 his previously unreleased version of The Beatles’ “Michelle” entered Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart at number 27, his first chart appearance in 18 years, and Luther: Never Too Much, the first full-length documentary about him, won Best Documentary at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards. In 2026 “luther,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s track built on a sample of “If This World Were Mine,” his recording with Cheryl Lynn, won the Grammy for Record of the Year. In September 2026 dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Power of Love, a ballet set to his music, appeared in an official video for “A House Is Not a Home.”