While in high school, Vandross founded the first Patti LaBelle fan club, of which he was president. Vandross graduated from William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx in 1969, and attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music. Patricia sang with the vocal group The Crests and was featured on the songs "My Juanita" and "Sweetest One". His sisters, Patricia "Pat" and Ann began taking Vandross to the Apollo Theater and to a theater in Brooklyn to see Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin. His family moved to the Bronx when he was nine. In 2003, Vandross wrote the song "Dance with My Father" and dedicated it to him the title was based on his childhood memories and his mother's recollections of the family singing and dancing in the house. Vandross's father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old. At the age of three, having his own phonograph, Vandross taught himself to play the piano by ear. Vandross was raised in Manhattan's Lower East Side in the NYCHA Alfred E. His father was an upholsterer and singer, and his mother was a nurse. He was the fourth child and second son of Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross Sr. was born on Apat Bellevue Hospital, in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. 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". 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 hit songs in his career.ĭuring his career, Vandross sold over 35 million records worldwide, and received eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. 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". 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". 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. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists including Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. (Ap– July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. (His impromptu addition to the song is not heard on the soundtrack album version, instead replaced by sung vocals by Diana Ross.Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. In the onscreen version of the song, Nipsey Russell can even be heard exclaiming "Free at last!"-a reference to Civil Rights activist Dr. Given the all-Black cast of The Wiz, the song's many references to freedom and new possibilities, (especially as sung by African American characters who had just been freed from enslavement) certainly invoked the struggles and history of Blacks in America. It was later featured in the 1978 film version, sung by cast members Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (credited as The Wiz Stars). Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow sing the song with the newly freed Winkies, who were ruled and enslaved by Evilene. (In 1976 Vandross recorded a version of the song for his album Luther, on Cotillion records.) In the play, the song is sung to celebrate because Dorothy has killed Evilene, the tyrannical Wicked Witch of the West. "A Brand New Day", also known as "Everybody Rejoice", is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz written by American R&B singer and songwriter Luther Vandross.
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