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[beep]
[man] Sound running.
And now, we wanna do-- I wanna do...
my favorite ballad and beautiful love song
on the new album.
It goes like this.
[man] One, two, three!
♪"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" intro♪
Yeah, yeah!
We have to have a party right away.
Right up top.
♪♪♪
Hey, come on!
Whoo!
♪(Ain't no stoppin' us now)♪
♪(We're on the move)
♪Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
♪(Ain't no stoppin' us now)♪
♪(We've got the groove)
♪There's been so many things that have held us down♪
♪But now it looks like things♪
♪Are finally comin' around, yeah♪
♪I know we've got a long, long way to go♪
Hah!
♪And where we'll end up
♪I don't know
♪But we won't let nothing hold us back♪
♪We're gonna get ourselves together♪
♪We're gonna polish up our act, yeah♪
♪And if you've ever been held down before♪
♪I know that you refuse to be held down anymore♪
♪Yeah, yeah
♪(Don't you let nothing, nothing)♪
♪Nothing stand in your way♪
♪And all of y'all
♪(I want you to listen, listen)♪
That's right.
♪To every word I say
♪Every word I say about it♪
♪(Ain't no stoppin' us now)♪
♪That's right
♪(We're on the move)
♪You said it
♪We've got the groove
♪Ain't no stoppin' us now♪
♪We've got the groove
♪Oooh
♪Ain't no stoppin' us now♪
♪We're on the move
♪On the move
♪Yeah, yeah
♪Ain't no stoppin' us now♪
♪We've got the groove...
[man VO] From the Bronx, New York,
Mister Luther Vandross.
[cheers and applause]
♪upbeat groovy music
Were you very poor as a child?
Mm-mm.
You know, the funniest thing is if there's enough love in
your house, and in your home, and in your life,
poor, rich, none of that stuff registers.
We were-- we were well fed, well cared-for,
we had toys at Christmas, and I don't know if we were poor
or not -- I'll have to ask my mother -- but it certainly--
my impression of growing up was that life was great.
♪♪♪
[Luther VO] This is very personal.
This is Luther talking about what he experienced as a child
and as a teenager,
aware of a potential career in music.
You know, I was a Motown child.
The Supremes and Temptations on Ed Sullivan was a big deal
around my neighborhood, you know.
So let's have a fine welcome for The Supremes.
[cheers and applause]
♪"You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes♪
♪I need love, love
♪To ease my mind
♪I need to find, find
♪Someone to call mine
♪But Mama said
♪You can't hurry love
♪No, you just have to wait...♪
[Luther VO] See, I used to love-- I used to draw
pictures of The Supremes in math class,
you know, when I was a kid, 'cause I used to just love...
The way my mother would punish me for doing something wrong
or get to me is not allowing me to see The Supremes on
Ed Sullivan on a Sunday night, you know.
[woman] Oh...
And it worked; you know, I washed the dishes,
took the garbage out, did the homework,
did everything.
♪When I feel my strength
♪Yeah, it's almost gone
♪I remember Mama said...
[Fonzi VO] I met Luther when I was 15.
We liked so much of the same music.
The Supremes would appear on Ed Sullivan,
let's say, like, maybe at 11 o'clock at night when
everybody in my house was in the bed.
I'd be sitting by the phone and the phone would ring,
and I'd pick it up really quick.
He'd say, "Did you see Florence miss that step?"
♪No, I can't bear
♪To live my life alone...♪
Met Luther Vandross in the 11th grade.
And he would say-- I think our first...
date [chuckling] as friends was "Come to my house
and, uh, you know, I'll make you some lunch,
and we'll listen to some music."
Great!
♪She said, "Love don't come easy"...♪
When I met Luther, the first thing I was impressed with:
he had composition books stuffed with papers that he
had torn out of another one and stuffed inside there,
all filled with his lyrics.
♪Love
[cheers and applause]
The Shades of Jade was Luther's first actual band,
and we had a bass player, myself on guitar,
Fonzi, Luther, and we had a keyboard player.
So he said, "Well, if you're gonna be in the group,
you have to get the uniform."
I said, "What's the uniform?"
"Well, you gotta have...
patent leather green emerald shoes if you're in
The Shades of Jade!"
He said, "Well, the shoes cost 23 dollars,"
and at that time, back in the '60s,
my mother wasn't gonna give me no 23 dollars for no shoes to
sing in no group!
Don't you know, this fool goes to my mama's house --
I'm talking about a Latin household,
Puerto Rican-only; my mother did not speak English.
And there, Luther Vandross proceeds,
in his broken Spanish, "Uh, Señora Alomar,
uh, es, uh, muy, uh, importante,
uh, los zappatos, uh, uh, de, uh,
Carlos, uh, verde, uh, green, uh,
muy importante!"
And by the time he finished talking to my mother,
my mother came in the room and says,
"Here, take this 25 dollars and go buy those shoes."
See, he was a boss from the beginning.
He had-- he had vision, he had an idea of how he wanted it to
go down, [chuckling] and that's the way it went down!
[Robin VO] Luther studied every singer that he loved.
♪Ooh, your kisses
♪Sweeter than honey
♪Guess what
♪So is my money
♪All I need
♪Is just a little respect when you get home♪
♪Baby, when you get home...
[Robin VO] What he liked about female singers was he loved
the tone, he loved the versatility,
the range.
♪R-E-S-P-E-C-T
♪Take care, T-C-B
♪Oh...
[Luther VO] You know, I used to love listening to
Aretha Franklin, 'cause Aretha's so bad, you know.
She doesn't have to get you at her peak
high note.
You know, Aretha, when she's singing in neutral,
can render you helpless.
♪A little bit
♪Of respect
♪I want you to show, yeah...
[Fonzi VO] Luther studied the soul of Aretha.
He studied The Sweet Inspirations and their tight
harmonies.
♪♪♪
He studied Dionne Warwick; he studied-- he studied the
tonality and the grace of her voice.
♪Call me
♪I'll be there
♪Just waiting
♪So
♪Don't think because you've been running around♪
♪I won't answer the phone
♪When your world tumbles down
♪You can call me
♪Any old time of the day...♪
When did you know that you could sing?
I knew that I wanted to sing...
I was, uh...
about 13, and I had gone to see, uh,
Dionne Warwick at the Brooklyn Fox Theater,
and I think I knew from that moment that I wanted to
be able to affect people the way she affected me that day.
♪It doesn't matter that you broke my heart♪
♪My heart still loves you so♪
♪It doesn't matter that you left my arms♪
♪My arms still need you so♪
♪And even though you walked out of my life♪
♪You are my life
♪You are my love
♪For always...
[Robin VO] It was the height of Black music.
The Apollo Theater was the center for everything
in Harlem musically.
We got to see it all happen.
And there was music on 125th street blasting all the time.
♪I'd like to know
♪That your love...
♪I can't turn you loose now...♪
[man VO] Here's one of the hottest groups in the country:
The Temptations!
♪To the world outside my tears♪
♪I refuse to explain
♪I just wish it would rain♪
♪Oh, let it rain...
We were in a group called Listen My Brother,
which was owned and managed by the people who owned
The Apollo Theater, and we used to get to see all the
shows free -- we could go into the Apollo any time we want
and see any show.
That was one of the real big perks.
[applause]
♪Listen, my brother
♪To what we've got to say♪
♪Listen, my brother
♪'Cause this is our day...♪
Listen My Brother was five guys,
five girls, and a five-piece band,
and we were singing these original songs about being
young and Black, and about "I'm gonna make it,"
and they were all topical as it related to the time.
♪Sometimes we get burdened♪
♪So many times, we have to cry♪
♪But if you think we're not gonna make it to the top♪
♪We're here to tell ya that's a lie♪
♪Oh, step back...
[Carlos VO] The context that we're talking about is
extremely important, 'cause you had the whole
Black Panthers and all of that.
[Robin VO] We sang songs about being young and Black,
and no one stopping us.
"We're gonna make it to the top.
Move, move out of our way."
♪Out of our way...
These songs were, in effect, mantras that we would repeat
for the rest of our lives.
♪Listen, everybody
♪We got a story to tell...♪
Peter Long, who ran the group, came to us one day in
rehearsal and he said, "Someone's gonna come down to
see you guys," because he'd always have people come down.
So he said, "This guy Jim Henson is gonna come down to
see what you do."
So, we performed the whole show for him.
We go to rehearsal the next day,
and Peter comes to us and he says,
"There's a TV show that's a new show for kids coming on
that, uh, I want you guys to do."
We were like, "TV?!
Are you kidding?!"
♪You've got to learn something♪
♪To get where you want to be♪
♪A man can't play a song
♪If there's no melody
♪Uh-huh, yeah
♪A girl can't bake a cake now♪
♪If she don't have a recipe♪
♪A man can't build a ho-ho-house♪
♪If he can't cut a tree
♪You've got to learn something...♪
And he explains the concept of having a neighborhood
just like Harlem.
A lot of people look at Sesame Street as
"Oh, Sesame Street."
No, that's Harlem.
Just like those little [chuckles] buildings that you
see, everybody sitting on the porch of their three-story
walk-ups, and they're all kinda old but they're really
well kept, and a lot of wood...
That's Harlem!
Well, that being said, you can't have songs that are --
I'm sorry -- so damn square!
♪A-B-C-D-E-F-G
♪H-I...
That ain't swingin' and that ain't soulful!
[funkier] ♪A-B-C-D-E-F-G...
♪H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P
♪Q-R-S-T
♪U-V
♪W-X
♪Y-Z
♪Hey, boys and girls
♪Have you met
♪26 little letters called "The Alphabet?"...♪
We're rhyming, we're-- for lack of a better word,
we're "rapping"...
♪Come on children, and don't be slow♪
♪We're gonna count to 20, and here we go♪
♪1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10♪
♪We're only half way
♪So here we go again, yeah♪
♪11, 12
♪13, 14...
It wasn't like he was top dog, so don't look at Luther as
being the top dog in Listen My Brother -- he wasn't.
And the factors for that are obvious:
Black and heavy.
If you're too Black or you're too fat...
you got a problem!
You didn't know you had a problem until it was made
a problem.
Could you sing your butt off?
Better than everybody on that stage.
♪17, 18, 19, 20!...
Even during those years, you still had prejudices based on
the look and the appearance of what it is,
not the talent.
♪funky percussive music
Luther Vandross went to Kalamazoo, Michigan,
to go to college.
[chuckles] Boy, he was miserable.
[chuckling] He was...
First of all, we were in Listen My Brother,
and then he got accepted.
He didn't think he was gonna get accepted.
He used to always call down to the rehearsal,
"What are y'all doing?! What are you singing?!"
and that kind of stuff, so he was doing well in school --
he always said he was like a B-plus student in school --
but, um...
his ear...
he was thinking about the music.
He wanted to come back to New York and be involved with the
things that we were doing.
♪♪♪
When I went to college, I did not go back the second year
because I really did not want a Plan B.
I said, "You know what?
It's gonna be this or I'm gonna be 80 trying to do it."
I told my mother that I wanted to drop out and pursue music,
and she, surprisingly, said, "Sure."
And I think the reason she said "Sure" is because of what
I didn't know, which is that my father was
a brilliant singer.
He passed away when I was eight years old,
and they say that I got it from him.
So I said, "I'm going to focus my entire life and whole
energy into this, and there is no other consideration,
so rejection will just have to happen,
and if it happens, it'll happen and I'll keep on going.
♪upbeat soul music
[man VO] Philadelphia has a unique blend of rhythm and
blues that is distinctly Philly.
♪♪♪
First, there was Motown, and then there was Philly;
there was Gamble and Huff, there were just all of those
great groups that came out of there -- The O'Jays and
First Choice and The Three Degrees.
♪When will I see you again?...♪
They were doing their own thing;
it wasn't Motown it was-- it was lush but it was
East Coast, it was...
It-- it just had a [grunts].
♪And I don't think they'll miss♪
♪(What they do?)
♪(They smilin' in your face)♪
♪All the time, they wanna take your place♪
♪The Backstabbers
♪(Backstabbers)
♪I keep getting...
The Philadelphia sound took the Motown sound and stripped
it of its formality, stripped it of its tuxedos and beaded
gowns, and it said, "Come as you are,
and scream a little bit."
♪And you
♪You are...
[Danyel VO] "Pick your hair out,"
you know what I'm saying?
"Let your afro be big and bouncy and wild."
♪All mine, all mine, all mine...♪
Motown was giving you a little bit more of, like...
"We matching, and we home by midnight."
[laughs]
♪More than I deserve
♪Ohh, you are...
You know, the Philly sound was more...
to the point,
and really got deep into the Black experience.
So when I hear about Bowie, when I hear about Mick Jagger,
when I hear about all these people,
this is music that they truly appreciated.
It was a sound that deeply resonated with them.
[Danyel VO] To somebody like David Bowie,
it was a little bit cooler, a little bit of-the-moment,
a little bit raspier, a little bit rowdier.
So why not be there?
So we're in New York City, and Carlos gets a call
from David Bowie...
for the 'Young Americans' album,
and Carlos has to go down to Philadelphia to record.
♪[indistinct]
♪Ha-ha-heart for you, yeah...♪
During that time, we had this whole thing where the way that
we used to get gigs is we would attend each other's
sessions,
and if, incidentally, they happened to need
somebody to fill in, "Oh, my friend's a singer.
He could definitely do it."
And we always brought Luther.
Come forward.
Yeah, that looks great.
♪Taking it all the right way♪
♪Keeping it in the back
♪Taking it all the right way...♪
[Ava VO] Luther started doing what he does,
which is start singing.
When David put music on, he starts,
you know, whatever, humming away,
and David was like, "Wow, this guy is great."
♪Flying just a sweet place♪
♪Never been known to fail♪
♪Never been, no...
David knew talent, and he whispered to me,
he said, "I love this guy."
And I'm like, "What's not to love?"
[laughs]
And again, on the one, two, three.
♪One time
- ♪Givin' it - ♪Givin' it
Givin' it!
♪Keepin' it back
Right, that's fine. Okay, so we got that.
[chuckles] That one's all right.
[Carlos VO] Robin and Luther are always making up parts;
that's what you do!
And so they're sitting on the console -- you know how it is.
The speakers are there, they're listening back to the
music...
♪She took his babies
♪It took him minutes...
[Carlos VO] David Bowie's back there with the engineer,
and they're playing the tracks back.
♪It's all right
♪She wants a young American...♪
And David is playing "Young Americans,"
just to hear it.
And Luther leans over to me and he says,
"Robin, what do you think of this?
♪Young American, young American♪"
♪She wants a young American♪
And, um, David, unbeknownst to me,
was sitting at the board behind me with a guy named
Carl, who was the engineer.
And he said, "I love that!"
[David VO] What a breath of fresh air.
I mean, he had just such a fantastic voice that I asked
him if he wanted to, uh...
kinda join in the session and start doing
the backing vocals.
♪(All night)
♪You want the young American♪
♪(Young American, young American)♪
♪(You want the young American...)♪
Child, they went in there and started singing "the young
American," and David Bowie was blown away.
He's like...
"You're in."
♪(I heard the news today, oh boy)♪
♪I got a suite and you got defeat♪
♪(All night)
♪Ain't there a man who can say no more?♪
♪Ain't there a child I can hold without judging?♪
♪Ain't there a pen that will write before they die?♪
♪(All night)
♪All night to want the young American...♪
[Fonzi VO] Bowie was a rock and roller;
he was doing stuff that was miles away from what
R&B music is.
You know, Luther brought a certain style of singing,
and Bowie loved it.
♪You ain't a pimp and you ain't a hustler♪
♪A pimp's got a Cadi and a lady's got a Chrysler...♪
And now, suddenly, Luther was arranging the entire album,
and this was also when Luther had his group Luther on
Cotillion, 'cause he had a whole album full of songs that
he had written and produced, and David heard a song called
"Funky Music is a Part of Me."
♪funky music
And he said, "Boy, I really, really like that,
but I can't sing it as 'Funky Music,'"
so they rewrote it as "Fascination."
♪(Fascination)
♪(Sure 'nuff)
♪(Takes a part of me...)
But that was Luther's song.
- ♪(I can't help it) - ♪No
♪(I've got to move)
♪Every time
♪Funky music comes around, yeah, yeah♪
This is Luther, and that's the name of the group!
Why just "Luther," Luther?
Uh, I write the songs, I sing 'em,
you know, some of them.
The record company named us Luther, by the way.
They thought that name would be more recognizable than the
others that we had tried.
- ♪(I'll do the singing) - ♪Oh!
♪(Just gimme the beat)
♪Just give it to me, give it to me, give it to me♪
♪(From the drummer, please)♪
♪C'mon, now
- ♪(Everybody) - ♪Everybody
♪(Dance)
♪Get up, get up, get up
♪(To the funky sound)
♪Oh, I can't help myself...♪
[Luther VO] Oh, I loved those days.
David, you know what he used to make me do?
This was when he first hired me,
first heard me singing.
He used to have me go on stage and do a half an hour show of
only my own material.
And the audience was saying "Bowie!
Bowie!"
You know, they had no idea who I was.
You know, I was young and everything.
And I came off stage; I said, "David,
if you're trying to kill me, use an ax!
Don't-- don't do it to me like this," you know.
And he was saying, "No, you have to understand:
you're getting the chance to sharpen your tools
and get out there.
You're getting the experience of a lifetime in advance of
what I know is gonna be your career."
David introduced me to Bette Midler,
and I toured with Bette Midler for many years,
and she was big on production,
so some of my early impressions about what to do
on stage were that you should have, you know,
a big, elaborate production.
♪They do it, they do it...♪
He believed that background singing was an art form,
because you have to know how to blend,
you have to know how to follow instructions,
you have to know what to add tonally.
You know, Luther's session career opened up from his work
with David Bowie and Bette Midler and people becoming
aware of him being a vocal arranger.
And besides that, the man out-sang everybody!
The song we wanna do for you now is from
the Broadway musical called 'The Wiz.'
Okay?
It was the winner of seven Tony Awards.
[cheering]
And I had the privilege and the pleasure of being able to
write one of the songs in that show,
okay?
And, uh, we wanna do it for you now,
in our own style.
♪Carry on, carry on
♪Everybody, look around
♪'Cause there's a reason to rejoice, you see♪
♪Everybody, come out
♪And let's commence...
He had a vision,
but there was the long period of time where he was trying
to get a deal and wasn't,
so it wasn't like this was a sure thing.
♪Freedom, you see...
But he knew what he wanted, he knew he was talented enough to
have it, and he kept going for it.
♪Can you feel the
♪Brand new day?
♪(Can you feel the)
- ♪(Brand new day?) - ♪Yeah, yeah
♪Yeah, yeah
♪Yeah, yeah, yeah
♪It's a brand new day
♪Be glad!
- Good night! - [cheers and applause]
[Nile VO] I was in Luther's band,
and we were opening for Marvin Gaye
at Radio City Music Hall.
And in those days, you had two shows a night at
Radio City Music Hall.
So we played our show, then, during the intermission,
we ran over to the recording studio and recorded my very
first song, which was "Everybody Dance."
♪Everybody, dance
♪Do-do-do, clap your hands♪
♪Clap your hands
♪Everybody, dance
♪Do-do-do, clap your hands♪
♪Clap your hands...
[Nile VO] Luther came and he brought all of his singers,
and...
it sounded amazing.
After I cut "Everybody Dance" with Luther,
it just was magical.
It was like, "Wow, this is a sound.
This is something special."
And it's Chic,
- "Le Freak!" - ♪Ah, freak out
♪Le freak
♪C'est chic
♪Freak out
♪Have you heard about the new dance craze?♪
♪Listen to us
♪I'm sure you'll be amazed♪
♪Big fun to be had by everyone♪
♪It's up to you
♪It surely can be done
♪Young and old are doing it, I'm told♪
♪It's called "Le Freak"
♪They're doing it night and day♪
♪Allow us, we'll show you the way♪
♪Ah, freak out
♪Le freak
♪C'est chic...
Luther's singing every record we did.
He's on everything!
Every single record we did.
The first Chic album, he's on every song.
Second Chic album, he's on every song.
Then, we do Sister Sledge; he's on every song
on that record.
Luther Vandross' vocals had a big part-- played a big part.
[Luther VO] What worked for me was that I was one of the first
real singers to emerge out of that disco period,
and it made me kind of singular
in what I contributed to music at that point.
And, uh, from there, I went into jingles.
♪There's nothing like a rollercoaster ride♪
♪There's nothing like a view from a mile in the sky♪
♪And there's nothing like the flavor♪
♪Of Juicy Fruit gum
I come from a world of background singing,
singing for other people...
♪Welcome to Miller Time...♪
[Valerie VO] Doing jingles, and that's the world that
Luther was traveling in.
♪Bring your thirsty self right here♪
♪The rich, smooth taste of Miller beer...♪
And so I knew his voice before he became...
famous.
♪Tonight ♪(Tonight)
♪Tonight
♪Let it be L öwenbr äu
♪(Let it be L öwenbr äu...)♪
That whole thing --
the [vibrato], the thing that I do --
came out of my first jingle.
It was for Gino's Pizza.
♪Gino's
♪You'll go for the food we've got♪
♪Gino's
♪You'll go for its sizzling hot...♪
And the producer -- her name was Debbie McDuffie --
she says, "Can you give me just something
to make me feel...
it's hot?
Make me feel it's sizzling hot."
And I said, [singing] "♪Gino's
♪You'll go for its siiiiiizzling hot♪"
And, you know, I just could see the control room just
jumping up and clapping and stuff.
He did it, and we did erupt then,
because it was like, "Oh man,
this is gonna end up being his thing."
So we were thinking it in the control room,
and he was thinking it on mic.
"I'm not doing this in any more jingles."
And he never did.
♪Going off to set some trends♪
♪Gonna laugh and dance and sing...♪
Luther was just-- he was killing it.
He was killing it.
- And the rates -- the pay rates - - that singers got paid was
like 100 million times more than what the musicians
got paid.
So I would say, "Hey man, can we go to your mailbox?
I just wanna see those commercial checks falling out
of your mailbox," you know?
As opposed to my little 34-dollar check.
[Luther VO] It was really a wonderful period of life,
you know?
It allowed me to move out of my mother's house,
you know, it allowed me to move her out of her house and
into some place really nice.
Luther eventually became, like,
one of the number-one background singers for
commercials, and also for records.
♪Ow!
♪(Searchin', searchin')
♪For so long...
Change was his studio group; it was us singing background,
Luther singing lead on a few things.
Luther went in and sang "Searching" and "Glow of Love"
in one take and nailed it.
The producers heard me singing in the background and they
asked me, you know, if I would...
sing the lead or audition for the lead.
♪We are one, having fun walking in♪
♪The glow of love...
So "Searching" and "Glow of Love" went on to become big
records, and they wanted Luther to officially become
the lead singer of the group, but Luther's contention was
that "I am a writer and a producer.
I wanna write and produce my own songs.
I don't want to be just the lead singer of your group
while you feed me songs."
You know, so he kept writing, he kept singing,
he kept doing his own thing.
[cheers and applause]
[Marcus VO] Roberta Flack heard Luther and said,
"Listen...
I'm doing gigs.
I know you do sessions during the week,
but maybe you'll come out with me on the weekend."
♪Strolling in the park♪
♪Watching winter turn to spring♪
♪Walking in the dark
♪Seeing lovers do their thing♪
♪Ooh, ooh, ooh, that's the time♪
♪I feel like makin' love
♪To you
♪(I feel like makin' love to you)♪
♪That's the time
♪I feel like makin' dreams come true♪
♪Whoa, babe...
I used to sing background vocals for Roberta Flack on
the road,
and Roberta sometimes would have
interviews and sometimes she'd be unable to show up at
soundchecks, so I would sing her songs for her in
soundchecks to test her microphone.
♪Feel like makin' love
♪To you
♪(I feel like makin' love to you)♪
♪That's the time...
[Luther VO] What happened is that one day, she had come
back to the theater, and I was singing,
and she came over to me and she said,
"You know, you're getting a little too comfortable
sitting on the stool in the background
singing oohs and aahs.
I really want you to make your own statement and make your
own record, you know?"
And she, in effect, fired me!
Luther Vandross likes to say that I fired him,
but I never really fired him.
What I did was to encourage him to believe in his own
ability to produce his first album.
All the monies that he was making from a hugely-lucrative
recording career as a side man, he was putting back into
going into the studio and creating his records.
Luther said, "Hey man, I wanna make a demo for my own music,"
and I was like, "Why would you wanna...
take all the headaches of being the artist, you know?
You're the number-one background singer
in New York City."
He said, "No, I have a sound in my head,
and I gotta get it out."
So we went in the studio Sunday morning,
because that was the only time he could get studio time.
[Luther VO] Everybody played on spec;
Marcus Miller, Nat Adderley, Jr.,
you know, all the musicians, Cissy Houston,
all the singers, they all sang for no money.
Nat says, "Okay, here's how it goes, fellas:
[mimicking bass] ♪Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom♪
♪Boom, boom" And I'm just reading:
[mimicking bass] ♪Boom, ba-boom boom, boom boom♪
I said, "This is a quirky little bass line."
♪"Never Too Much" by Luther Vandross♪
[Luther VO] All the record companies passed on me,
turned me down, including CBS, including Epic.
Including Epic and Columbia separately,
as a matter of fact.
And I went back...
to a different person at Epic with "Never Too Much" --
that was my song.
And that's how I got signed.
♪I can't fool myself
♪I don't want nobody else to ever love me♪
♪You are my shining star, my guiding light♪
♪My love fantasy
♪There's not a minute, hour, day or night♪
♪That I don't love you
♪You're at the top of my list♪
♪'Cause I'm always thinking of you♪
♪I still remember in the days♪
♪When I was scared to touch you♪
♪How I spent my day dreaming♪
♪When and how to say "I love you"♪
♪You must have known that I had feelings♪
♪Deep enough to swim in
♪That's when you opened up your heart♪
♪And you told me to come in♪
♪Oh, my love
♪A thousand kisses from you...♪
[Nat VO] I remember one take.
It was just so...
easy to play, simple.
I mean, we knew what we were doing and, uh...
I thought it was great.
I was like, "Wow!"
It sounded so different than everything on the radio.
But I didn't hear that it was gonna be a hit.
♪A million days in your arms...♪
Two Grammy nominations,
a big hit song that he had remain on the charts
- for 84 weeks! - Yes!
Luther Vandross, "Never Too Much!"
- Luther! - [cheers and applause]
♪Never too much, never too much♪
Whoo!
♪♪♪
Whoo!
When I heard "Never Too Much," I instantly recognized it as
being original, and he was wise enough to know how to
stand out and have a hook that we wouldn't forget.
♪And I just don't wanna stop♪
♪Oh, my
♪My love
♪My lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-love...♪
[Marcus VO] Those record execs weren't sure,
but man, when that thing hit the airwaves,
everybody else was sure.
"Never Too Much" was on the radio all day long,
and it was just incredible to see...
my boy just explode like that.
Lookit here!
♪Roll back the rug, everybody♪
♪Move all the tables and chairs♪
♪We're gonna have us a good time tonight...♪
[woman] You are crankin' up there in the charts.
Yeah, it's number one with a bullet in Billboard
- next week. - [woman] See there?
- Good for you! - [applause]
[Casey Kasem VO] Moving up five notches second week in the
countdown, here's Luther Vandross with his third
top 40 hit.
♪Hey
♪Look, now
♪Every night when I sleep♪
♪I dream of my baby
♪She's such a lady...
He has been praised as the most promising all-around
pop-soul craftsman to emerge in the '80s.
The man I'm referring to is Luther Vandross:
singer, songwriter, producer, arranger,
whose latest album has recently gone platinum.
♪And I'm all right
♪'Til my baby comes home...♪
[Oprah VO] You know somebody who has some money to spend
lives here.
This is one spectacular house, right?
[Luther chuckles]
♪My b-b-b-b-baby comes home...♪
[Luther VO] It was the most exciting time in the world.
So I-- I mean, my head, my heart,
everything was immersed in this business.
Luther has released four albums,
and all of them platinum.
♪(And I'm all right) ♪All right
♪('Til my baby...)
It's not only his voice that's made him a superstar.
He's also a gifted producer, arranger,
and composer.
He's been behind some of the great hit songs of
David Bowie, Aretha Franklin...
♪When my baby calls
♪I gotta jump to it...
One of the-- the most exciting moments I have ever had is the
day that I met Aretha Franklin.
♪I jump, jump, jump to it...♪
A lot of people to this day don't realize that he wrote
those songs.
He was a fantastic songwriter...
who became a great artist...
and then who became a great performer.
He was just a triple threat.
[cheers and applause]
Thank you very much.
I'd like to thank my producer, Mister Luther Vandross.
[cheers and applause]
Yes, Lord!
Was it a thrill, having had those people as your idols,
to produce their records?
Oh, the biggest thrill of my life was meeting and working
with Aretha and Dionne.
♪And how many times
♪Can we give it one more try?♪
♪Before we really say
♪Goodbye
[Eddie VO] And you sing, you'll get over.
Luther Vandross a big, Kentucky-Fried-Chicken-eating
motherfucker.
[laughter]
But he put his shit on...
[scatting as Luther]
Women go, "Ahhh!"
[Luther VO] Everybody was saying, "Oh!
Did you hear what Eddie Murphy said?"
I said, "Yeah, I love it!
I think it's great."
You know, you have to know how to play the game.
If you gonna have a party, you gotta party hardy!
You gotta do this thing right!
You know what I'm sayin'?
Whoo!
[Luther VO] The reason I did this is because I had looked
on the guest list to see who was coming,
and I saw Eddie's name.
Whoo!
[Luther VO] That's when I got the idea; I said,
"We gotta-- we have to address this.
This is gonna be so funny."
There's been a lot of talk going on about me lately.
Don't think I don't know about it!
And I didn't wanna let Eddie Murphy down,
you know what I'm sayin'?
[cheering]
♪Ooh, we're America's favorite♪
♪Bite after bite
♪Tender and juicy
♪We do it right for you, yeah♪
Whoo!
Luther had been dealing with this weight thing forever.
He was at his best, in terms of his humor,
when...
when he got attacked or...
or there was a situation that was difficult for him.
His humor got him through.
♪soft pensive music
But it was hard for him.
♪♪♪
[Robin VO] With him, it was all or nothing at all.
He was either....
eating, or he was dieting.
And I used to just say, "Just do it when you're ready,"
you know?
But he-- he felt like this was something that he had to do,
you know, to be accepted.
♪What's there to say?
♪There's not much to talk about♪
♪And what ever happened
♪To all of the love that we vowed?♪
Boy, you have lost so much weight!
- Thanks! - You look great!
You have lost how much?
126 pounds.
[cheers and applause]
Someone was just saying over there,
when they saw you sit down, they said,
"Who's that?" and I said, "It's Luther Vandross,"
and they said, "No, no, no, he's about 150 pounds heavier
- than that!" - [chuckles]
I'm sure they wanna know who your diet doctor is.
The diet doctor, if anybody, is-- is, uh,
Gianni Versace.
[cheers and applause]
[Luther VO] I was an emotional eater.
If something-- if the music wasn't sounding right,
I ate to cope.
Any little excuse that I could use,
I would use to eat.
And, um...
I just decide not to-- not to do that, you know?
I...
just decided that I-- that that was not right for me.
♪Gimme the reason to want you back♪
♪And why should I love you again?...♪
[Luther VO] Now, I feel better.
You know, on stage, I move...
more.
No, let's just say on onstage, I move now,
[chuckles] whereas I didn't before.
And, um...
it hasn't affected my voice or my singing at all.
[cheering]
♪tender romantic intro
[Jamie VO] Back in the day, if you wanted to fall in love,
you'd let Luther do the work for you.
So I would put the phone up to the radio.
And what's crazy is you had to wait for it to come on the
radio, so I had to keep-- [chuckles] I'm buying time
until the-- "And here's Luther Vandross!"
"Oh, perfect."
And I'd put the phone up to the radio and I'd tell her,
"This is what I wanna tell you."
[singing] ♪Let me hold you tight♪
[cheering]
♪If only for one night
♪Let me keep you near...
[singing] ♪Near
♪Ease-- And I was like, "You feelin' that?"
And go right back.
♪Ease away your fears...
And I can honestly say, 10 out of 10,
100 times out of 100 times, I put that Luther on 'em,
it is what it is.
♪One night
♪One night of your love, of your love♪
♪Of your love
♪Your love
♪And [deep vibrato] ooh
♪Ooh...
He did that thing; he goes [mimicking] "♪Oooh..."
That's what they think of you as because you send folks to
the bedroom.
♪One look in your eyes
♪And there I see...
You wanna give these lovely ladies a little preview of
what a date would be like with you?
Oh, lemme-- lemme run it by you.
First, we'll, uh, sail out on my private yacht.
[women cheering]
You know, all alone under the stars.
Whoo!
I've been fantasizing about you,
and kissing your picture and stuff!
You look like you've been kissing a weedwacker!
[laughter]
♪I look in your eyes and...♪
[Valerie VO] So they call you "Dr. Love" now?
[Luther VO] Let me tell you something:
I don't really take that title.
[Nickolas VO] Uh-huh.
[Luther VO] I wanna be remembered as a premiere
singer of our day.
[Nickolas VO] All right.
[Luther VO] Not as "The Love Doctor."
♪The love that we share
♪Makes life...
Because he was so, so into the singing aspect of things,
he didn't want that to be all you-- you got out of the
musical experience of seeing him.
So he would talk us down from it but...
they were still running to the bedroom.
[sucks teeth]
[laughs]
♪Here and now
♪I promise to love faithfully♪
Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
[women cheering]
♪'Cause your love is all I need♪
[cheers and applause]
[Oprah] Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
[Luther VO] I keep getting the feeling that the best part of
my career is still ahead of me.
[sirens]
[man VO] Singer Luther Vandross was driving in
North Hollywood Sunday when his Mercedes jumped
the divider and collided with two oncoming cars.
One person in Vandross' car died.
The singer is listed in fair condition tonight with three
broken ribs.
♪melancholy music
[Marcus VO] It was very tragic, you know.
I was in New York and he was in LA,
where the accident happened.
And I was talking to him in the hospital...
and I said, "Man, are you okay?"
He said, "Yeah, I'm good, man, I'm good."
I said, "Man, you need me to come out?"
You know, that's what we all say,
you know, when something happens, you know.
He said, "Actually, yeah."
It was the first time somebody ever said,
"Yeah, actually, yeah, I could use the support,
you know?"
♪♪♪
[Luther VO] I lost one of my best friends,
and I just do not want to get back in touch with that,
in terms of doing an interview and-- and really,
you know, talking about that.
I don't wanna relive that.
That's an unfortunate thing that-- you know,
that I wish had never happened.
♪♪♪
[Robin VO] After he had the car accident,
that was a really rough time because
someone was killed in that accident,
so it took a toll on him.
And food was his panacea.
Food was his medicine...
he thought.
He said, "Food has never let me down,"
and I said, "Yes, it has.
[chuckling] Food is not your friend."
♪♪♪
I was walking down the street and this woman comes up to me,
and she says, [tuts tongue] "You're gonna put it all back
- on, just like Luther did." - [Luther] Mm, mm!
Which was such a mean thing!
- Yeah, yeah. - [Oprah] You know?
Such a mean thing to say.
Anyone without the problem may or may not understand...
[Oprah] Right.
The full implication of what it is.
You know, it's-- it's all kinds of things.
It's not just...
eating.
The food is incidental in it.
It is more about your emotional state...
- [Oprah VO] Right. - [Luther VO] Whatever your...
your coping mechanism is.
You know, if-- if you feel hurt or betrayed,
whether you know it or not, you go--
you cope with something.
Something, you cope with.
You either go to church, you-- you do drugs...
[Oprah] Mm-hm.
You overeat, you do something to cope.
♪♪♪
[Ava VO] We were preparing to tour,
and they said, "We're gonna cancel the tour."
♪♪♪
But then, he decided to go,
and we gave him so much love.
He needed to be on the road...
Even though that had happened.
- He did, right. - Mentally.
- Right. - Mm.
And that's exactly what we said, too.
Mm-hm.
"You need to come out."
Mm-hm.
And he really felt that...
that vibe.
Can-- can we try this, Kevin?
Um...
Step in here, in front of that.
And-- and y'all take a, um...
a riser each.
[Lisa VO] Now, he was a hard taskmaster,
which means, you know, when we went to rehearsal
or when we were putting the show together,
we really worked.
Right.
And just-- you don't have to get here at the same time,
because there's different distances,
you know, to travel.
[Lisa] Just when we wave at you,
was that "Power of Love?"
♪When we walk
♪Down the street
- That's this one. - [Lisa] Okay.
♪When we w--
I just need, in my head, to know where I end
and where to go.
[Ava VO] 10-hour days, six days a week.
- [Kevin VO] That's right. - [Ava VO] 10-hour days.
Me and Lisa was like, "Ahhh!"
[laughs]
Choreography early, and then...
We would be learning it, and then Luther would come in,
and sit there, and watch us do the choreography and try to
put the-- and put the music with it,
and he'd be like, "Excuse me,
I'm not playing the lottery..."
[laughter]
- "So get it right." - [laughing] That's right.
You know.
So you have... [singing] ♪No one, no one
♪(To love)
♪No one, no one
♪(To love)
♪No one, no one
♪(To love)
♪No one, no one
But that'll trail off when Lisa does the high pitch--
- [woman] When she comes in. - Right.
[woman] Okay.
- He would cast -- vocally cast - - the right people with the
right vibration of sound, the right weight in their voice to
complement the other person's voice.
It was almost like being a film director for your ears.
- ♪(Ooh) - The rhythm is...
[singing] ♪Ooh-ooh
♪(Ooh)
♪Ooh-ooh
♪(Ooh)
♪Ooh-ooh
♪(Ooh)
And it goes on cycle 'til the band plays out.
I sure like us going back to this one again.
- [chuckles] - That's easier.
Okay, so "Close your eyes."
♪Hold on
♪And you can feel it...
The requirement of perfection...
and the willingness to...
take whatever time you needed and
spend whatever money...
you needed to accomplish that, 'cause it's
gonna...be...right.
♪You got to believe in love♪
♪It's a feeling that's next to none♪
♪Can't stop until we are one♪
♪With the power of love
♪'Til every...
[Marcus VO] When you're out there on the road,
man, you know, you have your good nights and your
bad nights.
No, man.
Every night.
Every night, he was nailing it,
and he expected everybody to nail it also.
♪When we walk
♪Down the street
♪We don't care who we see or who we meet♪
♪Don't need to run
♪Don't need to hide
♪'Cause we've got something burning inside♪
♪Yeah
- ♪We've got love - ♪(Love)
- ♪Power - ♪(Power...)
We all appreciated the-- the-- the [mimics whip crack],
because it was making us better,
and we saw year after year how we were developing.
We were ready to get up every day and go to work for him.
♪I know, I know that
♪(We've got love)
♪We've got love
♪(With all of the power)
♪Oh, yes, with all of the power♪
♪(It's the greatest power of them all)♪
♪Of all, of all
♪(We've got love)
♪Love, love, love
♪(Power)
♪Yes, the love and the power♪
♪(And together)
♪Together, we can't fall
♪I know, I know that we...♪
People would say, "You would just go on stage with a
flashlight and not spend any money on staging and clothes,
and we'd be fine with that."
He wasn't fine with that, you know what I mean?
He wanted to give his audience a show that they would
remember.
We do not play with your ticket money.
Let's go.
♪Lately love
♪Keeps keeping me awake at night♪
♪Tossing and turning, my love♪
♪Wanna kiss, wanna hold you so tight♪
♪Ooh, but I wonder, love
♪Whether you know or not
♪When you just hurry away♪
♪Leaving me laying there in shock♪
♪I just wanna be
♪The one that you wanna see...♪
The elegance of those dresses.
Every dress was hand-beaded, and just so beautiful,
so beautiful.
♪Almost every day
♪You work a lot
♪You never stop to love
♪(Stop)
♪I love you, stop
♪(Stop)
♪Come home from the road
♪(Gotta stop to love)♪
♪Yeah, and let's celebrate♪
♪(Celebrate)
♪The love we've got
♪(Stop...)
[Kevin VO] He designed many of the costumes himself,
and said, "Listen, this is my idea,"
and took it to somebody and said,
"This is what I want you to create."
That is the key to Luther's entire career.
You know, people don't understand those amazing shows
and all of the regalia, all of the costuming,
and all of the staging, and all that kind of stuff,
he was putting his money into putting on those shows.
♪(Stop, ooh)
♪Say you're coming home
♪Oh, oh
♪(Gotta stop to love)
♪All right, I love you
♪(Stop, stop, stop)
[cheers and applause]
♪FM 92, The Beat
♪The Beat...
[man] All right, we are live for our tribute to Luther!
Everybody's here, right?!
[cheers and applause]
At this time, our guest of honor has arrived.
[cheers and applause]
Ladies and gentlemen, Mister Luther Vandross!
[cheers and applause]
Luther, welcome!
Thank you!
Glad to be here.
Luther Vandross, look at all your fans...
Luther was R&B music, and it was great R&B music,
and a lot of that was to his benefit.
But Luther would only be played on Black radio,
so where it became a challenge is when he wanted
to cross over,
because Luther was not necessarily embraced...
or given the freedom
to do it the same way that other artists
that don't look like Luther are.
Why has the label...
always positioned you, in a business sense,
as a Black singer, and pigeonholed you in that way,
and does that bother you?
Natalie Cole said something that I loved when--
in accepting the Grammys or the American Music Award,
whichever, that she thanked her old fans and her new fans.
[Arsenio] Exactly.
So, Arsenio, there's nothing wrong with adding new fans to
your-- I love the people who brought me thus far--
[Arsenio] Without a doubt, without a doubt.
But there is-- that is just not the issue at all.
When you pigeonhole an artist and you make him an R&B
singer, you are, in a certain way,
doing him a disservice.
The point is that I wanna add new listeners,
and reach as many and as varied a group of people.
That's been something we've been working on for, uh,
ever.
[both laugh]
[Arsenio] Yeah, uh-huh.
[applause]
♪melancholy piano music
[Richard VO] He felt very strongly that he was being
treated in a racist way by the executives.
He felt it from the budgets that he was being given to
make records, to the amount of money that they were spending
to promote when he'd look around and know that the
promotion budgets for that white artist or that white
artist were triple what they were spending on his records.
He was not a guy who sort of just made records and stayed
out of the business side of it;
he was very astute.
He was a very astute business man and he knew what was
happening.
[Nile VO] The concept of crossing over was really...
so important, honestly, to every artist.
Radio in America really was...
Black, white, Black, white,
and when you had the ability to cross over,
if you were fortunate enough to cross over,
really what that did for you was give you way more
record sales because now, you had other lanes.
You didn't just get played on the Black station,
you got played on the white stations as well.
How it came to be as to whether you were pop or
whether you were R&B way precedes me,
but, um...
it was really done on racial terms.
R&B play was for African-American artists.
When records and CDs were sold in stores,
when you walked into the store,
it was very rare that Black records were even at the front
of the store, so if you just came in to browse and you were
a fan of Black music, you walk in the store and you're just
looking...
and ain't really-- "Do they even sell Black music
in here?"
And then somebody's telling you "It's at the back."
This is real talk!
And when you go to the back, it's starting to smell like
mice and...
[chuckles] you know what I'm saying?
The speakers are static-y and...
are they even playing Black music in the record store for
you to get that taste of "Oh, should I buy that?"
And Luther was fighting all of this.
That's why, when you hear him quoted so often,
"I want a number-one record,"
some of that is "I want a number-one record,"
some of it is "I want to be treated fairly
in this business."
[male announcer] Live from the Shrine Auditorium in
Los Angeles, the 28th-annual Grammy Awards!
Tonight...
Luther wanted to be number one on the pop charts,
and then he also wanted a Grammy.
Now, most of us are too cool to want a Grammy,
you know?
You want it, but you're too cool to say you want it.
But Luther didn't care about that;
he was like, "I want my Grammy."
And it took a while.
And the Grammy goes to...
Terence Trent D'Arby!
We're here to present the Grammy for Best R&B
Performance Male.
And the Grammy goes to...
Mister Stevie Wonder!
And the Grammy goes to...
"Living in America," James Brown!
[cheers and applause]
[Fonzi VO] So he calls me up; he says,
"The Grammys are in New York this year."
He'd been nominated nine times before and had not won.
He said, "Eh, I ain't gonna win,
so listen: just come with me, you know,
we'll go to the ceremony, we'll go out to eat,
we'll hang out.
The nominations for Best R&B...
[Fonzi VO] Regina Belle and Michael Bolton are on
the stage calling out the names.
And the Grammy goes to...
Luther Vandross, "Here and Now!"
♪Here and now...
And I could feel him go like this.
And then, he just sort of calmed down and just got
really cool.
[cheers and applause]
♪You're all I need...
I'm stunned; I said, "So this is a dude I met in the
projects, and he's here tonight winning a Grammy for
'Here and Now.'"
♪Your love is all I need...
♪Your love is all I need
[cheers and applause]
♪I'm so glad, I'm so glad, I'm so glad♪
♪I'm so glad, I'm so glad♪
♪I'm so glad, I'm so glad, yes, I am♪
♪That I won a Grammy♪
[cheers and applause]
So he walked in the studio the next day and said,
"Everyone here, you are to address me for the rest of the
day as Luther 'Grammy winner' Vandross."
So we laughed, right?
And he made us do that for the whole day.
♪(It's about time, time)♪
[Luther] I had to get that in.
♪Yeah, yeah
♪Yeah, yeah...
Those shows can weirdly inspire you,
because if you get shut out so many times,
if you think about it, Luther's music just kept
getting better, kept getting better.
He said, "I'm gonna be undeny,"
and so...
it could be the blessing and a curse.
Of course he should have won a Grammy nine times of the nine
times he was, uh, shut out,
but it-- in a weird way,
it purified him, made him do his best,
you know?
I try to do songs that I think I can do differently,
you know?
And that I think fit me, you know,
sort of like, uh...
what somebody chooses to wear, you know,
when they're gonna go to the Academy Awards or something,
you know?
They choose that special thing, you know.
So that's the way I try to look at the tunes I cover.
Now, unlike a lot of artists from, like,
the '80s and '90s up 'til today,
Luther, his aesthetic was from the '60s and the '70s.
Luther had heard "Superstar" in the early '70s.
♪Long ago
♪And oh, so far away...
[Marcus VO] And I'll never forget,
one day, he walks in and says,
"Man, we're gonna record 'Superstar.'"
I said, "The Carpenters?"
And he goes, "Yeah," and I said,
"Okay, I know better than to question you,
but I need to see how this is gonna work."
♪I wanna tell you, baby
♪The changes I've been
♪Goin' through
♪Missin' you, missin' you...♪
When Luther does a cover, it's gonna be slower [chuckles]
than the original version, and he asked for an intro,
and I just...
went home and started, uh, arranging.
That was the first full arrangement that I did
for him.
♪Long ago
♪And oh, so far away
♪I fell in love with you
♪Before the second show
♪Ooh, oh
♪Don't you remember you told me you love me, baby?♪
♪You said you'd be coming back this way again, baby♪
♪Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh, baby♪
♪Yeah
♪I love you
♪I really do...
[Marcus VO] He was such a master at space.
He would let space go by,
and get your anticipation up for the next line.
There were huge pauses where...
it would just emotionally effect you when he finally
came back in.
♪You look for me to be yours♪
♪(To be yours)
♪You want my love
♪But you're on the road
♪(To be yours)
♪Don't you remember me
♪Anymore?
♪Ooh...
And, you know, there's one point in the song where he
goes, [singing] "♪Keep it right there
♪Keep it right there"
'Cause we had got to that little part in the song that
Luther likes to add after the song is supposed to be ended
- - [singing] ♪Keep it right there♪ --
and he's telling me and the rest of the guys who like to
play jazz, "Don't jazz this thing up.
Keep it right there."
[singing] "♪Play it easy"
That's when he says... ♪Play it easy
♪Keep it right there, keep it right there♪
♪Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...♪
[Marcus VO] I said, "Okay, well, what he's gonna do
is he's gonna turn his vocal off when the song
gets mixed."
No, he just left it right there.
And it became one of the most wonderful parts of the song.
♪And I do remember
♪Even though it was
♪Long
♪Ago
♪Yeah, yeah, yeah
♪Yeah
[cheers and applause]
[indistinct chatter]
[Luther] Okay, lemme...
'Cause I like the low-- yeah.
[indistinct chatter]
[Luther] Right.
♪delicate keyboard
I'll wait until the end-- wait until after the song.
Yeah, and they know the record, right.
[man] Exactly.
Luther just had such a pure heart that came out through
his vocals and his music in general that,
you know, it really was, like, otherworldly.
[Luther] Like from out of a dream.
♪♪♪
And in this dream,
there was a major diva in the wings...
waiting for me.
[cheers and applause]
Oh, yes!
She will appear...
out of somewhere!
[Mariah VO] I was so nervous 'cause I had never probably
played in a place that big before.
It's the beginning of the performance and Luther's like,
"I'm seeking out a diva, and she's here,
and she's there!"
[cheers and applause]
And I really was honored when he brought me out to sing
with him.
♪My love
♪There's only you in my life♪
♪The only thing that's right♪
♪Ooh
♪My first love
♪Yeah
♪You're every breath that I take...♪
Mariah kept coming up with song titles that she thought I
would sound good singing.
And, uh, then, she suggested "Endless Love,"
and she says, "Ooh, and I'll sing it with you."
♪I want to share
♪All my love...
So I guess it was my idea, if Luther said it was.
But I couldn't have been happier because I was such a
fan of his, and Luther, being one of the greatest vocalists,
is something that I really was inspired by.
♪I'll be that fool
♪For you
♪For you baby
♪I'll show
♪Oh, I'll sure show
♪That you know I don't mind♪
♪You know I don't mind, don't mind♪
- ♪Yeah - ♪Yeah, yeah
♪You'll be the only one
♪'Cause no one
♪No one can deny
♪This love I have inside
♪And I'll give it all to you♪
♪My love, my love, my love♪
♪My endless love
♪L-l-l-l-l, l-l-l-l-l, l-l-l-l-l♪
♪Eh, l-love
♪L-love
♪vocalizing
♪My
♪Love
[Luther VO] Play the down beat for the verse.
♪piano chords
♪Eh-- No, one more time.
♪♪♪
♪Every time you go away
I'm going with this.
♪I always say
♪It's goodbye, dear
♪Loving you the way I do
Check it out, right.
♪I'd take you back
Mm-hm, mm-hm.
♪Without you, I'd die, dear♪
♪Knowing I love you so
♪Anyone who had a heart would take me♪
♪In his arms and love me too♪
♪You
♪Couldn't really have a heart♪
♪And hurt me
♪Like you've hurt me and be so untrue♪
♪What am I to do?...♪
What I loved more than anything else about hearing
the songs that he decided he wanted to record of mine
was that he made them his own.
It wasn't "Oh, I'm gonna sing it like Dionne sang it."
"I'm gonna sing it like Luther."
Mister Luther Vandross.
♪Whoa
[cheers and applause]
♪Dum-dum-dum, dum-dum-dum♪
♪Hey, yeah, baby
♪Whoa, honey...
[Dionne VO] I remember hearing "A House is Not a Home" for
the first time.
I-- I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
I told him, I said, "Baby doll,
you have just given me the definitive version
of that song."
♪A chair is still a chair♪
♪Even when there's no one♪
♪Sitting there...
I'm like, "What?
He's singing about furniture in this motherfucker and it
sounds great?!
[laughs] Shit!
[chuckling] This motherfucker..."
You know what I'm saying?!
We at Wayfair!
[singing] ♪But a chair♪
♪Is still a chair...
♪But oh, a room is not a house♪
♪And a house is not a home♪
♪When the two of us
♪We are far apart
♪And one of us
♪Has
♪A broken heart
♪Yeah...
And I gotta say, when I was being honored by the NAACP
and he performed it for me, it was...
it was overwhelming.
It really was.
'Cause he just showed out that night.
He really did. [chuckles]
♪'Cause I'm not meant
♪To live alone, no
♪N-n-n-n-n-n-no, no
♪Turn this house into a home♪
♪When I climb the stairs
♪When I turn the key, oh
♪Please be there
♪Saying that you're still in love♪
♪You're sure in love with me♪
♪Oh
♪I'm not meant
♪To live alone
♪Turn this house into a home♪
♪When
♪I climb the stairs
♪Reach out and turn the key, oh♪
♪Baby, please be there
♪And still
♪In love
♪With
♪Me
♪Yeah
♪With me, oh
♪Oh
♪Love
♪Still in love with
♪Me
♪Yeah
[cheers and applause]
♪pensive groovy music
[cheers and applause]
The moment hip-hop got on the radio,
it became a huge challenge for artists like Luther
and all those R&B artists who dominated radio.
It became hip-hop's time, so a lot of artists from Luther's
generation, it got a little quiet for them --
not to the point that they weren't successful,
but not successful in the way that they had previously been
successful.
Well, I haven't released a product in, uh,
a couple of years now, and, um,
it'll be interesting because I'm about to sign a
new record deal.
You're gonna-- now, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
you're gonna sign with -- I read this --
you're gonna sign with Clive Davis?
I am, yeah.
[man] You are gonna sign with J Records,
with his new label?
[Luther VO] Absolutely, yeah.
[Danyel VO] Clive Davis is so known for his expertise as an
executive producer.
Aretha came to Clive, Dionne came to Clive,
Whitney started with Clive.
He's just instrumental in a lot of Black artists' lives,
and so if I'm Luther Vandross and I'm a little bit at a
turning point, Clive can seem like,
um...
a very soft place to land.
[Clive VO] I was just starting my new record label,
J Records, and we agreed to have dinner.
Luther had one mission in mind for that dinner:
"Do you believe that I can have hits again?" said he.
And I said, "That opens up my question to you:
Will you be open
to my finding some outside songs for you?"
He said, "I am totally open to outside material."
The first album that we did together,
he did do an outside song.
It's called "Take You Out."
♪She caught me by surprise, I must say♪
♪'Cause I never have seen such a pretty face♪
♪With such a warm and beautiful smile♪
♪It wasn't hard for me to notice her style...♪
He's sold over 20...million...albums
worldwide!
And apparently, he's definitely not done!
Luther had a voice like no other -- spectacular.
And he was back to being platinum!
Making a special appearance!
106 and Park!
Y'all better stand up right now!
Give it up...
for the one and only...
- Luther Vandross! - [woman] All right!
[cheers and applause]
I'm happier now than I've ever been,
but I expect to one day be the happiest I can be.
I'm still looking for that meaningful other person
in my life.
That is something that baffles me that I haven't been able
to find.
That seems like such a basic thing.
Sometimes, I think that, uh, fate...
has to work with you, you know,
to find...
certain things.
I mean, if fate wants you to find love,
you could hide in the basement of your house with all the
doors bolted, you know, and it'll still happen.
[Oprah] Do you guys have a question?
Yeah, what's your question?
You've done a number of great songs over the years.
Which two were your favorite, and why?
Mm.
"Any Love" remains my favorite song.
[Oprah] Really? Why?
Because it is probably the only real autobiographical
song that I wrote.
That's exactly the way I was feeling when I wrote the song.
♪I speak to myself sometimes♪
♪And I say "Oh, my
♪In a lot of ways, you're a lucky guy♪
♪And, oh, now all you need is♪
♪A chance to try
♪Any love"
♪In my heart, there's a need to shout♪
♪Dyin', screamin', cryin' "Let me out"♪
♪Yeah
♪Are all those feelings that wanna touch♪
♪Any love?...
When people ask me, "Tell me about Luther,"
I say, "Just listen to 'Any Love.'
Just listen to those lyrics, you know?"
"I got everything.
I speak to myself sometimes and I say,
'Oh my, in a lot of ways, you're a lucky guy.
Now all you need is a chance to try any love.'"
Right? Woo...
♪Any love
♪And, oh
♪Everyone needs love, no doubt♪
♪Any love
♪And, oh
♪Everybody feels alone without♪
♪Any love
♪And I know there's someone waiting♪
♪To enter my life
♪Come into my life
♪And, oh
♪Suddenly, out of the clear blue sky♪
Oh, yeah.
That was that day.
[pretending to cry]
[laughs]
[applause]
Oh, goodness.
[Oprah] And the next line is what?
'Cause I'm trying to think why is it autobiographical?
Uh, "Lonely tears start to fill my eyes..."
[Oprah] Oh...
"I get weak, but I refuse to cry.
I've got to keep holding on."
You know.
It was one of those days, y'all.
♪Everyone needs a love, no doubt♪
♪Any love
♪And, oh...
I love, love, loved that song "Any Love" before I worked for
Luther, but once I started working for Luther,
I could see that the desperation described in that
song was real,
and I hated that song after that because
it always reminded me that he wasn't seeking love,
he was seeking any love.
♪Is there
♪Any
♪Love?
[cheers and applause]
♪delicate melancholy music♪
[Robin VO] He would say, "I feel like a trick has been
played on me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, God has given me everything I asked for,
except for this one thing:
to have one person who...
who loves me."
And we would say, "But Luther, you know,
we love you," and he'd say, "I know you guys love me."
[laughs]
"That's not what I'm talking about."
So we never made that a focal point of our relationship,
and we were together quite a bit.
Our dream for Luther was just that he could be loved and
appreciated for who he was, 'cause he was a wonderful
human being.
♪♪♪
His life had some extremely joyful moments
and some really difficult moments.
There was one time...
after Luther lost all the weight...
there was a rumor that he died or that he had AIDS
or something.
[woman] Now, last week there was-- last year,
there were a lot of rumors because you got thin.
[Luther VO] Yeah, you're not gonna ask me about that stupid
thing that was so--
[woman VO] No, I'm gonna ask you what diet you went on.
[Luther VO] So irresponsibly wrote in--
[woman VO] I'm not gonna even mention it.
[Regis VO] There was a report out -- a rumor out --
that Luther...
was dead!
[Luther VO] Oh, yeah.
Did you guys hear that?
- Did y'all hear it? - [Regis] Yeah, I heard it!
Yeah, there was-- so, finally, it just made me realize you
have to just...
I-- I cop to it; I...
I died!
[laughter]
Man, can you imagine?
He said, "Man, I'm sitting here in the living room
watching TV on Sunday, and the pastor is saying a prayer for
me because I just passed."
He went, "Nah...
[chuckling] I'm still here!"
Can you imagine?
I mean, this is like...
I tell a lot of you young people: fame and fortune...
Fortune's cool.
Fame's not always so cool.
[cheers and applause]
♪Knowing love the way I do♪
♪I can say for certain that it's true♪
♪There's a chance for me and you...♪
[man VO] Well, would you say you've spent more time being
in love or, like, waiting for love?
[Luther VO] Waiting.
Waiting.
And the time that was spent being in love was largely,
unfortunately, always...
unrequited, unreciprocated, whatever the word is.
- You know what I'm saying? - [man VO] Mm-hm.
♪Now, I remember spending all my time♪
♪On a dream that kept me wishing♪
♪That you could be mine
♪Yeah...
[Luther VO] I don't consider myself unloveable by any
- stretch... - [man VO] Mm-hm.
[Luther VO] But...
no, that has not happened, you know,
so I've-- I'm still waiting.
♪Whoo
♪I've been missing
♪(Sometimes love)
♪Takes a long time
♪But wait for love and you're gonna get your♪
♪Chance to love
♪Wait for love, wait for love♪
♪(You, yeah)
♪You, yeah...
[Max VO] It always made me sad,
because I always wanted Luther to find whatever would fulfill
his heart.
There was something inside of Luther that he just...
[sighs] I think in some ways felt like he couldn't share
all of himself.
♪soft melancholy music
I think that, because of the stigma back then,
if he was gay, the thought of, quote,
"coming out," he couldn't bear it.
He'd rather be alone than have that stigma attached.
♪♪♪
One of the things that really pissed me off is there were
people who have talked about his personal life who,
you know, he considered friends.
♪♪♪
Did he struggle with the idea of coming out publicly?
Was that-- was that something that you talked about at all?
We talked about it.
It was-- basically, he did not want his mother to be...
although she might have known...
[Andy] Uh-huh.
But he wasn't gonna come out and say this to the world.
And he had a lot of lady fans, and he told me that he just
didn't want to upset the world.
♪♪♪
[Fonzi VO] I don't really know what I wanna say.
I'm gonna always respect whatever position he took.
Questions about my sexuality will,
I suppose, just always be questions.
Lemme tell you who I owe answers to:
what I owe you...
is my music, my talent, my best effort,
you know?
That's all.
I will neither deny or confirm
that any such rumors about personal things like that
are-- are true or untrue.
I won't give the satisfaction of a denial,
because that is a submission of sort.
I wouldn't even address it, I will just say mind your f'ing
business.
That's my response to that.
♪♪♪
[Bill VO] You seem to be at a weight that you're
comfortable with.
How did you lose it, and are you feeling better these days
than you have in a long time?
[Luther VO] I am feeling better.
I'm somewhere in the middle right now,
but I'm feeling better than I--
than I do when I'm really obese.
I lost, uh, 120 pounds, put on a f-- some fraction of that --
- I'm not giving any specifics. - [Bill, laughing] Okay.
You look great at whatever weight you're currently at.
Luther Vandross, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you, Bill.
So the whole thing of being fat and being thin and being
fat and being thin, we always told him,
"Dude, you can't keep this up.
Can't you just find out where your basic...?"
'Cause everybody normalizes at a certain place,
but if you have diabetes, you don't know what anybody's
negotiating with at any one time,
and so we must not forget...
that above all things, Luther was a diabetic.
[Robin VO] You know, we all worried about it because it's,
uh-- how many times can your body take that?
And he says, "Robin, you don't have the same problem I have."
He said, "I obsess about food."
He said, "I'm thinking about food from the time
I wake up...
until the time I go to sleep."
And I just said, "Whoa."
I read in a magazine once -- this is the weirdest question
- I'm sure you've ever heard... - Uh-huh.
But I read in a magazine one of the strangest things you
had ever eaten was a hamburger
between two glazed donuts 'cause you couldn't
find any hamburger rolls.
Is that a true story, and how disgusting was that?
Disgusting?
[chuckling] Oh, no, no, that was good!
- [Katie] It wa--? - [laughter]
What are you gonna be doing for, uh,
Thanksgiving, Luther?
Will you be here or in LA?
Inhaling a turkey.
Yeah, inhaling?
- Ooh... - [laughing] No, no, no.
Well, we have a desk out there.
You can try everybody's...
But you've lost some weight, haven't you?
- Uh, hi. - [laughter]
- No. - No?
He doesn't like to discuss it.
Oh, I'm sorry!
You take somebody who was as huge a talent...
and as accomplished as he was,
and they just sort of, like...
shrunk him down to that -- to a soundbite about his weight.
It was like...
It absolutely irritated him, as it should have.
A lot of people make a big deal out of your weight.
Does it bother you?
Yeah, it's bothersome right now.
Now that you're asking me, it's bothersome,
'cause I don't enjoy talking about it a lot.
You know, my record company, J Records,
used to always insist, "Oh, you gotta--"
'Cause I used to say, "I don't wanna talk about that.
I don't-- I don't really wanna speak on that.
You know, that's a personal struggle," and...
and they would always say, "Yeah,
but it has-- it's like a human interest story and everybody
wants to talk about it."
And I'm saying, "Yeah, but what if I talk about it and
gain any of it back, you know?
Then, I have to carry that type of paranoia."
♪soft melancholy music
[Max VO] His weight was, like, this huge story!
I mean, it broke my heart when it--
You know, when he finally managed his weight,
when he was maintaining his weight,
they decided to promote the album,
it would all be about his weight loss story.
It was too much, and it broke, and he started to gain the
weight back.
And it was so sad that there was such a fixation about
his weight.
That was heartbreaking.
- Luther! - [audience] Yeah!
Big Luther, though.
Big Luther, not Little Luther.
[laughter]
I don't...
I don't do Little Luther, I don't do Little Luther.
I...
I like Big, Curl-Ain't-Quite-Right Luther.
That's the one I like.
[laughter]
♪♪♪
[Jamie VO] Here's a man who was probably like,
"I need to get healthy."
But it's tough because when we see you and we love you,
we love you for what we see and love right then.
If something changes-- you know Black people...
You lose weight, "Man, you okay?"
You know Black people; you can't lose no weight.
"You okay? You sick?"
If we were to be able to talk to Luther at that time,
as fans, we would have been able to say,
"Whatever weight you are,
we don't care, we just love you."
♪♪♪
We worried about him,
because when Luther was under stress is when
he would eat.
♪sparse melancholy music
He was back and forth at the studio 24/7.
He was working on that record like crazy,
just to get it done, to get it out.
[Fonzi VO] He called me in the middle of the night one night,
like at three o'clock in the morning.
He's in the studio at Hit Factory when it was
on 54th street.
He says, "Come downstairs.
I want you to take a ride with me."
I said, "Okay, fine."
Get in the car, he says, "I got this new song I wanna play
for you."
♪"Dance with My Father" intro♪
At the end of it, my face is wet.
I said, "What is that?!"
He said, "This is gonna be my career song."
He said, "I'm probably gonna have a struggle with the
record company," he said, "but this is my career song."
♪Back when I was a child
♪Before life removed all the innocence♪
♪My father would lift me high♪
♪And dance with my mother and me and then♪
♪Spin me around 'til I fell asleep♪
♪Then up the stairs he would carry me♪
♪And I knew for sure
♪I was loved...
[Mary VO] When he played it...
I was in awe because...
how could he remember these things,
you know?
He said, "Well, I wrote this, listen,"
and then, when I heard it...
it just-- it grabbed me.
♪How I'd love, love, love♪
♪To dance with my father again...♪
[Fonzi VO] Him doing "Dance with My Father,"
it's almost like he put his own flag in the sand.
It's like, "I've got this song.
Y'all are gonna put this out."
And they did, and he was right.
♪And I'd hear how my mother cried for him...♪
[Fonzi VO] They could have chose something else and the
story might have been different;
he might have never had a number-one record,
we might not have ever heard this emotion that speaks
to everyone.
♪Every night I fall asleep♪
♪And this is all I ever dream...♪
I just was crying, man, because...
you know, he wrote it from such and honest place,
and he had been...
refining this-- this song in his head somehow,
for all those years.
And not long after that, he had his stroke.
♪soft dark music
[Max VO] April, a sunny day, and I had to go to the new
apartment where Luther was and we were still renovating.
I rang the doorbell and Luther didn't pick up,
which was really odd -- he was always on time.
So I had to go see what was going on.
And we had just replaced the doors,
and they were, like, these beautiful mahogany doors,
and so we broke down the door, and I was screaming as we were
breaking down the door, "I'm so sorry, Luther!
I know I'm out of control!
I'm sorry to break down the door!
I know you just had it done!
You can take it out of my paycheck,
but I don't know what's going on,
and you're not answering, and I just need to see what's
going on!"
And it was quiet.
And so I walked around, and I walked down the hallway,
and I looked to the right to the bedroom...
[voice catches]
Soul singer Luther Vandross is still hospitalized in
intensive care in a New York City hospital after...
R&B legend Luther Vandross suffered a massive stroke that
left him hospitalized in critical condition.
Those were some difficult times to see the strongest
person you knew to be knocked...
to his knees, you know, in a health situation.
The last thing that anybody thought,
including him, is that that would happen.
How devastatingly ironic is it that that song is number one
on the pop charts, and he can't even appreciate it
'cause he was...
in and out of that coma, you know?
[cheers and applause]
And the Grammy goes to...
Richard Marx and Luther Vandross
for "Dance with My Father!"
Luther Vandross!
I, uh...
I have had the honor, for the last 13 years,
to write songs with Luther, my friend,
who I love, who I wish was here with me 'cause he'd be
whispering to me about what everybody's wearing.
[laughter]
You all know how ridiculously talented he is,
but some of you don't know that he's also one of the
funniest, kindest, brightest people on the face
of the Earth.
I thank the Academy so much for honoring not only our
song, "Dance with My Father," but Luther himself tonight,
because no one's more deserving.
[cheers and applause]
I went right from the Grammys to see him,
'cause I wanted to celebrate with him but he-- you know,
obviously, he was in bad shape.
But he did his exercises and he did this therapy,
and then we ended up coming back to his room and...
and we did have a pretty amazing conversation about
winning that Grammy.
♪delicate melancholy music♪
[Clive VO] I said, "Luther, it's everything...
that we could have hoped for.
I mean, it is everybody's favorite song,
favorite record.
We're going platinum...
and greater."
And a smile came on his face.
He said, "I love it."
The doctors were shocked.
I mean...
he understood every word that I was saying.
It was such a wonderful sign at the time of...
recovery was a possibility.
♪♪♪
[Oprah] I want to know what you wanted to say...
to your many, many, many fans.
I wanna thank them...
for even caring.
It's a wonderful feeling.
Mm-hm.
Every day, do you say, "I wanna get a little better
at something?"
Well, right now, what I want to get better at is,
um...
living with this,
living with these thoughts,
living with this, you know, feeling of, uh...
of the last...
chapter.
♪soft tense music
[Fonzi VO] I got a call from the hospital saying,
"You need to come here."
I said, "What?
What's the matter?"
They said, "Well, he's...
he's not breathing."
I said, "What do you mean he's not breathing?"
I said, "What does that mean?"
They said, "You just need to come."
♪♪♪
[Robin VO] We went into the room where his body was.
And...
we saw our friend...
[sighs]
[whispering] I'm sorry.
I just remember us going into the room and me,
Robin, and Carlos just holding him,
just...
just holding him just like, "This is crazy."
♪♪♪
[crowd] Luther!
We love you, Luther!
♪church organ
♪Oh
♪Jesus will be waiting
♪For me...
I think I was just too full at Luther's...
service to...
I can't tell you who else did what or what or...
It was just...
overwhelming.
- ♪(I want to cross over) - ♪Meet you there
- ♪(I need to cross over) - ♪Oh, yes, I will
♪vocalizing
It was surreal...
being asked to speak.
We will all miss him, but as we said --
and probably will be said over and over again --
his legacy will live on forever.
[applause]
It was something that had to be done.
We got through it.
♪We've got love
♪(Love)
♪And all of the power
♪(Power)
♪It's the greatest power of them all♪
♪Hey, we've got love
♪(Love)
♪And all of the power
♪(Power...)
That day of his funeral was so beautiful.
Everybody sang, we got up and sang,
Stevie was singing, Alicia Keys,
everybody...
Freddie Jackson, everybody was there.
And we made it a celebration.
♪It's the greatest power
♪It's called love
♪I'm talkin' 'bout love...♪
[Seveda VO] Everybody has something that they're
supposed to do in this life.
My uncle had a job to do while he was here,
and he did it.
He fulfilled his obligation to this Earth.
You can't think of that man without thinking about love.
[cheers and applause]
[Seveda] Thank you for coming out and celebrating this
awesome occasion with us!
This star will be here for many, many moons,
for many, many people to come back,
and when they see his name,
they're gonna remember why they love him.
♪Love has truly
♪Been good to me
♪Not even one sad day
♪Or minute have I had since you've come my way♪
♪I hope you know
♪I'd gladly go
♪Anywhere you take me
♪It's so amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above...♪
[Marcus VO] If you say "Aretha,"
you know who we're talking about.
If you say "Marvin," you hear a sound in your head.
"Stevie," you definitely hear, like,
a few sounds in your head.
And if you say "Luther," we all know exactly what you're
talking about.
♪Got to tell you...
I can't think of anybody that is near to him in his
uniqueness and his talent, and just even the texture
of his voice.
You only come across an artist like Luther Vandross,
like, once in a lifetime.
♪And it's so amazing, amazing♪
♪I could stay forever, forever♪
♪Here in love and I'll leave you never♪
♪'Cause we've got amazing love♪
♪Truly, it's amazing, amazing♪
♪Love brought us together, together♪
♪I would leave you never and never♪
♪Yes, we've got amazing love♪
♪Ooh, so amazing
♪And I've been waiting
♪For a love like you
♪It's so amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above♪
♪Oh, and it's so
♪It's so
amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above♪
♪And you know
♪It's so
amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above♪
♪Yeah, yeah
♪It's so
amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above♪
♪Yeah, yeah
♪It's so
amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above♪
♪Yeah, yeah
♪It's so
amazing to be loved♪
♪I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above♪
♪Yeah, yeah
♪It's so