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Luther Ronzoni Vandross, would’ve been 62 today but we continue to celebrate his life throughout the entertainment industry. Luther finally made his long desired career breakthrough as a featured singer with the vaunted pop-dance act change, a studio concept created by French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. Their 1980 hits, “The Glow of Love” (by Romani, Malavasi and Garfield) and “Searching” (by Malavasi), both featuring Vandross as lead singer, opened up the world for Vandross. And there was no doubt about whether Vandross liked the song “The Glow of Love”. In an interview that Vibe Magazine did with him in 2001 Vandross said, “This is the most beautiful song I’ve ever sung in my life.” Both songs were from Change’s debut album The Glow Of Love. Vandross was also originally intended to perform on their second and highly successful album Miracles in 1981, but declined the offer as Petrus didn’t pay enough money. Vandross’ decision rapidly led to a recording contract with Epic Records that same year but didn’t stop him from doing some background vocals on “Miracles” and on the new Petrus-created act, the B.B & Q.Band in 1981. During that hectic year Vandross jump-started his second attempt at a solo career with his debut album,  Never Too Much. In addition to the hit title track it contained a version of the Burt Bacarach and  Hal David’s song “A House Is Not A Home“. The song “Never Too Much”, written by himself, reached number-one on the R&B charts. This period also marked the beginning of frequent songwriting collaboration with bassist Marcus Miller, who played on many of the tracks and would also produce or co-produce a number of tracks for Vandross. The Never Too Much album was arranged by high school classmate Nat Adderley Jr., a collaboration that would last through Vandross’s career. Luther is truly missed and has influenced plenty of artists today.

Happy Birthday Luther!

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Happy Birthday Luther Vandross!