Search engine giant Google celebrates the 70th birthday of American singer-songwriter Luther Vandross with an animated musical video Doodle on April 20, 2021. Today’s Google Doodle artwork was created by Atlanta-based guest artist Sam Bass.
Google video Doodle on Luther Vandross’s 70th Birthday
Here is a look at the life and work of Luther Vandross.
Personal
Birth name: Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr.
Birthdate: April 20, 1951
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Died on: July 1, 2005 (aged 54)
Death place: Edison, New Jersey, U.S.
Father name: Luther Vandross, Sr.
Mother name: Mary Ida Vandross
Nationality: American
Sun Sign: Aries
Eduction:
William Howard Taft High School
Western Michigan University
Famous As: Singer, songwriter, musician, record producer
Notable awards:
8 Grammy Awards
4 Soul Train Music Awards
9 American Music Award
Quincy Jones Award for Career Achievement
30 Fun Facts about Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross was born Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. on April 20, 1951, in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. His mother, Mary Ida Vandross, was a nurse and his dad, Luther Vandross Sr., was a singer and upholsterer.
At three years old, Luther Vandross began playing the piano by himself. His folks encouraged his musical talents.
At the point when he was eight years of age, his father died of diabetes after which his family moved to the Bronx. There, Vandross’s sisters Ann and Patricia began taking him to theaters.
Luther Vandross went to William Howard Taft High School and graduated from there in 1969. Later he went to the Western Michigan University and exited it following a year to seek after his music career.
Luther Vandross began performing during his secondary school years. While in secondary school, Vandross established the first Patti LaBelle fan club, of which he was president.
He additionally acted in a group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater. During his early years in show business, he seemed a few times at Apollo’s famous amateur night. He sang ordinarily at the Apollo Theater.
While Luther Vandross was a member of a theater workshop, Listen My Brother, he was associated with the singles “Only Love Can Make a Better World” and “Listen My Brother”. He showed up with the group in a few episodes of the first season of Sesame Street during 1969–1970.
Luther Vandross wrote “Everybody Rejoice” for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz. He proceeded with his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s. His song “Everybody Rejoice”, sometimes called “A Brand New Day”, was utilized in a Kodak commercial during the mid-1970s.
In the late 1970s, the American singer was a member of the singing quintet Luther alongside Diane Sumler, Anthony Hinton, Christine Wiltshire, and Theresa V. Reed. The group released the singles “Funky Music”, “The Second Time Around” and “It’s Good for the Soul” which were moderately effective. In any case, their albums ‘Luther’ and ‘This Close to You’ didn’t sell enough.
In the late 1970s, he sang with a band named Soirée and served as the lead singer for the song named “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”. Vandross likewise showed up in the group Charme’s album, ‘Let It In.’ After this, he at long last made his career breakthrough as a highlighted singer with the pop-dance act Change and gave numerous hits, for example, “The Glow of Love” and “Searching”.
In 1972, Luther Vandross added backing vocals to ‘Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway,’ the debut album by singers Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. He likewise worked for Delores Hall on her album ‘Hall-Mark’ and sang with her on the track “Who’s Gonna Make It Easier for Me”. He added to another single named “In This Lonely Hour” also.
From 1977 to mid-1980, Vandross sang and composed commercial jingles for organizations including Mountain Dew, Juicy Fruit, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and NBC. In 1978, he sang for Greg Diamond’s band, Bionic Boogie. That same year, he showed up on Quincy Jones’ album ‘Sounds…and Stuff Like That’.
Luther Vandross later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner/RFC Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed a recording contract with Epic Records as a solo artist.
Soon after this, Luther Vandross released his debut solo album named ‘Never Too Much’ which comprised of hit singles “Never Too Much” and “A House Is Not a Home” in 1981.
In 1983, the American artist found the opportunity to work with Dionne Warwick, writing, producing, and singing the song “How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye”. Vandross additionally produced “It’s Hard for Me to Say” for Diana Ross and surprisingly toured with her later.
Luther Vandross sang in Stevie Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover” in 1985. Soon after this, he lent his voice to the cartoon character Zack for the animated series ‘Zack of All Trades’. Vandross at that point released his compilation album named ‘The Best of Luther Vandross… The Best of Love’.
In 1990, he composed, sang, and produced the background vocals for Whitney Houston’s tune “Who Do You Love”. That same year, he made a guest appearance in the sitcom ‘227’. At that point in 1994, the singer cooperated with Mariah Carey and sang the cover version of the song “Endless Love”
Luther Vandross scored at least one top 10 R&B hit every year from 1981 to 1994.
In 1997, Luther Vandross sang the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”, during Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.
He signed with J Records and released the album named ‘Luther Vandross’ in 2001 which created the hit songs “Take You Out” and “I’d Rather”. In 2002, Vandross acted in his last event during his last tour that likewise included Gerald Levert and Angie Stone.
In 2003, Luther Vandross teamed up on the song “What’s Going On” for Doc Powell’s album named ’97th and Columbus.’ The same year, Vandross released his last album ‘Dance with My Father’ which incorporated the hits “Dance with My Father” and “Think About You”.
It sold 442,000 copies of the album “Dance with My Father” in the first week and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart.
The second single released from the album, “Think About You”, was the number one Urban Adult Contemporary Song of 2004 as per Radio & Records.
The single ‘Dance with My Father’ was the song that deified Luther Vandross. The lyrics depended on his childhood experiences and affectionately review recollections of Vandross’s father who used to dance with his wife and young children. The song was a super-hit and acquired him two Grammy Awards.
Luther Vandross won eight Grammy Awards in his music career, out of which four Grammys were for the songs “Dance with My Father” and “The Closer I Get to You” under various categories in 2004. He won four Soul Train Music Awards under the category ‘Best R&B/Soul Album – Male’ for the songs “Give Me the Reason”, “Here and Now”, “Power of Love” and “Dance with My Father”. He was likewise honored with American Music Awards nine times in his career.
During his career, Luther Vandross sold more than 35 million records worldwide and got eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won an aggregate 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”.
The American singer Luther Vandross experienced diabetes as well as hypertension. On July 1, 2005, he breathed his last at 54 years old.
After this death, a significant segment of his estate was given as a gift to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
On June 3, 2014, Luther Vandross was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On April 20th, 2021, Google celebrated Luther Vandross’s 70th Birthday with Google video Doodle.
