Luther Ronzoni Vandross was born on April 30, 1951 in New York City. He passed away July 1, 2005 in New Jersey.
Throughout his career, this American singer managed to sell more than 25 million copies of his albums, 8 times to be awarded the Grammy Award, 4 times of them was in the nomination "Best Male Vocal R&B Performance".
Luther Ronzoni Vandross' most famous composition was Dance with My Father, which he composed with Richard Marx.
The early years of Luther Ronzoni Vandross
Since Luther Ronzoni Vandross grew up in a musical family, he started playing the piano at the age of 3,5. When the boy was 13 years old, his family moved from New York to the Bronx.
His sister, whose name was Patricia, was also involved in music, she was even a member of the vocal group The Crests.
The composition Sixteen Candles even took 2nd position in the charts of the United States of America, after which Patricia left the group. When Luther was 8 years old, he lost his father.
At school, he was a member of the musical group Shades of Jade. This team was very successful, even managed to perform in Harlem. In addition, Luther Ronzoni Vandross was a member of the Listen My Brother theater group during his school years.
Together with other members of this circle, the boy even managed to appear in several episodes of the famous television program for children Sesame Street (1969).
After graduating from school, Luther Ronzoni Vandross entered the university, but did not graduate, preferring a musical career to study. Already in 1972, he took part in the recording of the album of the then very popular singer Roberta Flack.
And just a year later, he already recorded his first solo composition Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me, as well as a joint track with David Bowie, which was called Fascination.
As a member of the David Bowie band, Luther Ronzoni Vandross went on tour from 1974 to 1975.
Over the years of his career, he has traveled on tour with such world-class stars as: Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Carly Simon, Donna Summer, and Chaka Khan.
Working with groups
However, Luther Ronzoni Vandross found real success only when he became a member of the Change musical group, which was created by the famous businessman and creative Jacques Fred Petrus. The group performed Italian disco as well as rhythm and blues.
The most famous hits of this musical group were the compositions A Lover's Holiday, The Glow of Love, and Searching, thanks to which Luther Ronzoni Vandross enjoyed worldwide popularity.
Solo career of Luther Ronzoni Vandross
But the artist was not satisfied with the amount of the fee that he received in the Change group. And he decided to leave her in order to start doing solo work.
His first album as a solo artist was titled Never Too Much. The most popular song from this album was Never Too Much.
She took a leading position in the main rhythm and blues charts. In the 1980s, Luther Ronzoni Vandross released several more solo albums that were relatively successful.
It was Luther Ronzoni Vandross who first noticed the talent of Jimmy Salvemini. It was in 1985 when Jimmy was 15 years old.
Luther Ronzoni Vandross liked his voice and invited him to take part in the recording of his album as a backing vocalist. He then helped Jimmy Salvemini record his first solo album.
After recording, they decided to celebrate this event, and drunk went for a drive in cars. Having lost control, they crossed a double continuous marking and crashed into a pole.
Jimmy Salvemini and Luther Ronzoni Vandross survived, although they were injured, but the third passenger, a friend of Jimmy named Larry, died on the spot.
In the 1980s of the last century, Luther Ronzoni Vandross released such albums as: The Best of Luther Vandross… The Best of Love, as well as Power of Love. In 1994 he recorded a duet with Mariah Carey.
Luther Ronzoni Vandross had diseases that were inherited from him. In particular, diabetes mellitus, as well as hypertension. On April 16, 2003, the popular American rhythm and blues artist suffered a stroke.
Before that, he had just finished work on the Dance With My Father album. He died in the hospital as a result of another heart attack.
It happened in the American city of Edison (New Jersey). A significant number of people gathered at the funeral, including world-class show business stars.
