Luther Vandross - Collections (2008)

Luther Vandross was an R&B and Soul singer, songwriter, and producer. He sold over 25 million albums during his career and won eight Grammy Awards. He won four Grammys for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and in 2004, he won four Grammys, including Song of the Year for "Dance with My Father," which he co-wrote with Richard Marx.

He was born in New York City, on the East Side of Manhattan. He started playing the piano at the age of three, but it's perhaps not surprising that he became interested in music at such an early age, as almost everyone in his family was involved in music. His sister Patricia and her band The Crests reached number two on the music charts with their song "Sixteen Candles."

Luther was only eight years old when his father died of diabetes. He later moved with his family to the Bronx. In high school, he was a member of the band Shades of Jade, which he performed with at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Later, he attended a Michigan university for almost a year, but decided to drop out and pursue a music career.

He was also a backup singer for stars such as Diana Ross, David Bowie and Barbra Streisand.

Luther finally had a big breakthrough when he met the disco/rnb band Change. The band's songs "A Lover's Holiday" and "The Glow of Love" gave Luther a big opportunity, because he sang these songs himself. In an interview, he said of the song "The Glow of Love": "It's the most beautiful song I've ever heard."

Luther signed a contract with Epic Records and began working on his debut album. Songs such as "A house is not a home" and the album's title track "Never too much" were released for the first time. He wrote the latter himself and reached #1 on the RnB chart.

During this time, he met his bassist-songwriter friend Marcus Miller.

His albums continued to be released in the 1980s, and he also took on backing vocals for various bands, such as Charme in 1982. His albums were successful, but his early songs were much more successful and achieved much greater success on the music charts.

In the mid-1980s, two of Vandross' songs reached number one on the Billboard RnB Chart. These two songs were "Stop to Love" and "There's Nothing Better Than Love" with Gregory Hines.

Luther later produced Aretha Franklin's award-winning album, "Jump to it".

In 1989, he released the album "The Best of Luther Vandross... The Best of Love", which featured the song "Here and Now", which reached number six on the Billboard Pop Chart.

In 1991, his big moment came, as he won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

He won the award again in 1992, and that same year he also won the award for Best R&B Song of the Year, which he won for "Power of Love".

In 1994, he reached the top of the charts again with the song "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey, originally a duet between Lionel Richie and Diana Ross.

In 1997, he received the award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the song "Your Secret Love". That year, Luther sang the American national anthem at the Louisiana Stadium, on the occasion of the 31st Super Bowl.

In 2004, the highly successful album "Dance with my father" was released. The title song of the album is about Luther's childhood, about how much he wants to dance with his father again. A music video was also made for the song, which features various celebrities with their families. The song received the Grammy Award for Song of the Year that year, and again won the fourth and final Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. He co-wrote this song with Richard Marx.

Luther had long struggled with diabetes and high blood pressure, which unfortunately occurred in many members of his family. On April 16, 2003, 4 days before his birthday, he suffered a stroke at his home in Manhattan. After he began to feel better, he continued to work with his friend Richard Marx, with whom he remained good friends since 1989.

On July 1, 2005, Luther Vandross, the greatest RnB and Soul singer, passed away due to a heart attack.

He was laid to rest in George Washington Memorial Park.