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went double platinum within 18 Performance, Male.) The album Come Runnin’” and an R&B chart 1999; and sang background vocals his New York apartment on April During his lifetime, Luther Van-
months. itself spent a week at number two entry in Jam & Lewis’ “I Won’t Let and did vocal arrangements on 16, 2003, the victim of a serious dross’ albums were certified for
in the R&B charts and made the You Do That to Me,” with a gold- BeBe Winans’ Love & Freedom in stroke, apparently brought on sales of 23-and-a-half-million cop-
His commercial status restored, pop Top Ten, as second single “I disc certification in December. August 2000. That same month, he by his diabetes and the physical ies in the U.S.; estimates of his total
Vandross undertook his usual pur- Can Make It Better” hit the R&B ended his search for a new record strain of his lifelong struggles with worldwide record sales were as
suits, singing background vocals Top 20, also making the pop chart, While weighing offers from differ- company affiliation, becoming the his weight. Despite his illness, J high as 40 million. Sales, of course,
on the occasional album (Cindy and third single “Love Don’t Love ent record companies, Vandross first act signed to veteran record released “Dance with My Father,” tell only part of the story, but it
Mizelle’s Cindy Mizelle [1994], You Anymore” became a minor made some guest appearances, executive Clive Davis’ new startup which became an R&B and pop Top is notable that, in the precarious
Naomi Campbell’s Babywoman, R&B hit. Simultaneous gold and turning up on BeBe Winans’ self- label, J Records. He made his label 40 hit and a gold record, introduc- world of popular music, and in
Yvonne Lewis’ No Strangers in titled album in October 1997, on debut with the track “If I Was the ing the album, which hit number particular of the notoriously fickle
Paradise [both 1995]) and under- Jimmy Reid’s Forever Loved in One,” included on the soundtrack one on both charts, a first for him. genre of R&B and the difficult cat-
taking a tour that began on May 31, Vandross was prepar- March 1998, and on his associ- of Dr. Doolittle 2 on June 5, 2001. Over the next year, “Smooth Love,” egory of crossover pop, Vandross
1995, in San Diego, CA. For his next ate Marcus Miller’s Suddenly in The song also appeared on Luther “Think About You,” “Buy Me a sold records in the millions con-
album, he tried another favorite ing for a round of pub- June. On April 8, he performed at Vandross, which was released two Rose,” and “The Closer I Get to You” sistently for over two decades. It is
record company concept, the holi- licity work when he col- a Burt Bacharach tribute concert weeks later. Vandross and Davis (a duet with Beyoncé Knowles re- even more notable that, although
day collection. This Is Christmas, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in served as co-album producers, creating the original version by he certainly molded his music to
which contained seven originals lapsed in his New York New York, singing “Windows of with individual tracks produced by Roberta Flack and Donny Hatha- a certain extent to meet the mar-
along with only three traditional the World” and “What the World others, and new songwriters were way) figured in the pop, R&B, and/ ketplace, he also imposed his own
Christmas songs and restored the apartment...the victim Needs Now.” The show was filmed brought in to give Vandross a new, or adult contemporary (AC) charts, direction on R&B. Prior to him, the
production team of Vandross, Nat for television and taped, resulting current sound. The makeover was as the album sold over two million popular music of African-Ameri-
Adderley, Jr., and Marcus Miller, of a serious stroke... in a soundtrack album, One Amaz- largely successful. Leadoff single copies. Vandross was a sentimen- cans tended to jump from one style
was released October 24, 1995. ing Night, released in November. “Take You Out” became a Top Ten tal favorite at the 2003 Grammy to another with nary a look back-
It went Top Five R&B (with the platinum certifications arrived in Vandross also paid tribute to Patti R&B and Top 40 pop hit, followed Awards, and his career total of tro- ward. But Vandross, coming along
track “Every Year, Every Christ- December. LaBelle at the same venue on June by the R&B chart entry “Can Heav- phies doubled from four to eight as in the wake of disco and while rap/
mas” making the R&B Top 40) and 2 for a PBS special. Deciding on en Wait” and the R&B Top 40 and he won Song of the Year and Best hip-hop was in its infancy, insisted
peaked at number 28 in the pop Vandross spent much of 1997 Virgin Records, a subsidiary of the pop chart entry “I’d Rather,” as R&B Vocal Performance, Male, for on reverence for the soul music of
charts. An immediately certified touring, beginning with an ap- major label EMI, he presented a the album made the pop Top Ten “Dance with My Father,” Best R&B the recent past and deliberately
gold album, it became a perennial pearance at Superbowl XXXI on new album, I Know, on August 11. and just missed topping the R&B Album, and Best R&B Performance reformulated it in an “old-school”
seller and went platinum in 2002. January 26 to sing the national He had already begun to introduce chart, reaching platinum status by by a Duo or Group with Vocals for approach that came to be known
Also in the 1995 holiday season, anthem. He did take time out to contemporary elements of rap and November. “The Closer I Get to You.” He made as the black AC radio format “quiet
Vandross contributed a track, “The sing background vocals on Richard hip-hop on Your Secret Love, and I an appearance via videotape to storm.” Even as rap dominated the
Thrill I’m In,” to the soundtrack of Marx’s April release, Flesh & Bone, Know continued this trend, but it His career revitalized once again, accept his awards and promised to charts in the early years of the 21st
the film Money Train. however. On September 30, Epic/ was a commercial disappointment, Vandross toured in early 2002, return to action soon. century, he maintained his passion
LV released his valedictory collec- only going gold and generating just then began work on a second al-
Vandross did some touring during tion, One Night with You: The Best one Top 40 R&B hit in “Nights in bum for J, taking time out to sing Meanwhile, J Records had kept for romantic, melodic music, and
the summer of 1996, and he con- of Love, Vol. 2, which began with Harlem.” As a result, he left Virgin Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” his name before the public by he drew listeners along with him.
tributed a cover of the Peter, Paul four new recordings, none of them after only this one release. on Doc Powell’s album 97th and releasing the concert collection His early death at the age of 54
& Mary hit “If I Had a Hammer” to written or produced by him, but Columbus and to contribute back- Live Radio City Music Hall 2003, robbed American popular music
the benefit album For Our Children instead contributed by such usu- During 1999 and 2000, Vandross ground vocals to “Load Is Lifted” recorded in February 2003, on Oc- of one of its more consistent and
Too, released in September, but he ally reliable hitmakers as Diane kept his hand in with soundtrack on Suzanne Couch’s In the Rhythm tober 14, 2003; it reached number compelling voices, and it is only a
spent most of the year working on Warren, R. Kelly, and the team of and session work. He co-wrote and (not released until 2005). He co- six in the R&B charts and number partial comfort that he left behind
Your Secret Love, the album that Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Under- co-produced “When You’re a Wom- wrote the title song for his new al- 22 in the pop charts. By all reports, a substantial body of work.
would complete his Epic Records standably, Epic didn’t do much an” for Lisa Fischer and Masters at bum, “Dance with My Father,” with Vandross continued his recovery
contract. It was released on Oc- of a promotional job on this con- Work, featured on the soundtrack Richard Marx, and they combined during 2004 and into 2005; he even
tober 1, following the title song, tractual obligation release, which of the film 24 Hour Woman, re- for a heartfelt tribute to Vandross’ appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s tele-
which came out as an advance nevertheless reached the R&B Top leased in March 1999; contributed father. The album was finished by vision show in May 2005. But on
single that made the R&B Top Five 40 and the pop Top 50, spawning a background vocals to Natalie Cole’s the spring of 2003, and Vandross July 1, 2005, it was announced that
and was a pop chart entry. (The Top 40 R&B hit in R. Kelly’s “When Snowfall on the Sahara in June was preparing for a round of pub- he had died, having “never really
track went on to win Vandross an- You Call on Me/Baby That’s When I 1999; sang and arranged for Dave licity work when he collapsed in recovered” from his stroke.
other Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Koz’s The Dance in September
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