JMNYC
04-17-2003, 09:20 PM
Sorry to continually be the bearer of bad news... :(
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B singer-songwriter Luther Vandross, who has battled weight and health problems for years, has suffered a stroke just days before his 52nd birthday, his record label said on Thursday.
Vandross, a five-time Grammy winner who launched a successful comeback two years ago, was undergoing medical treatment after being stricken on Wednesday, J Records said in a statement.
"Vandross is under medical care, and his family and friends are hopeful for a speedy recovery," Carmen Romano, the entertainer's business manager, said in the statement.
His whereabouts were not disclosed, and officials at New York-based J Records were not immediately available for comment.
Famed for his silky, soulful crooning as well as for his songwriting and production prowess, Vandross turns 52 on Sunday. Since launching his solo career in 1981 after a successful stint as a back-up vocalist for the likes of David Bowie and Bette Midler, he has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.
"There are vocalists, and then there's Luther," Motown singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson told Rolling Stone magazine in 1990. "Luther's in a class by himself."
Beginning with his 1981 album, "Never Too Much," the first of a chain of million-sellers, an unabashed Vandross bared his soul in sophisticated ballads that bridged the divide between classic soul and contemporary slickness.
He also produced for such stars as Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, and Whitney Houston.
Unlike other male singers, Vandross eschewed a macho posture, but did not come across as too wimpish, either. He established a new style that influenced such singers as Freddie Jackson, Keith Washington and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
He became a frequent fixture on the urban music charts, but mainstream success eluded him until 1989, when he enjoyed his first Top 10 pop hit with "Here and Now," a track tacked onto a compilation album, "The Best of Luther Vandross ... The Best of Love." That song has since become something of a classic wedding ballad.
He was sometimes called the "Love Doctor," but Vandross did not want to be lumped in with peers who performed ladies-only shows or hauled beds out onto the stage.
"I want to be remembered as one of the premier singers of our time, not as the 'Love Doctor' or the 'Master of Bedroom Music,"' he told Reuters in a 1996 interview.
In addition to struggling with his image, the 6-foot-3 musician also struggled with his weight, which fluctuated between 340 pounds and 190 pounds during his adult life. When he released his last record, his self-titled debut for J in 2001, he was a relatively lithe 220 pounds. He also suffered from mild diabetes.
"If I'm emotionally distraught, then eating is my coping mechanism," Vandross told Britain's Q magazine in 1991. "For what ails me, it seems to be the only thing that takes the edge off the pain."
A year before, Vandross had appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to celebrate the loss of 122 pounds on a liquid diet. But a year later, photographers were banned from shooting him below the chest.
His first break in show business came in 1972 when his composition "Everybody Rejoice (A Brand New Day)" was included in the hit Broadway musical "The Wiz."
Two years later, David Bowie asked him to arrange and sing backgrounds on his "Young Americans" album, which also included the Vandross song "Fascination." After logging more backup work, he took the advice of one of his employers, Roberta Flack, and recorded the demos for the album that would become "Never Too Much."
Vandross never married and has no children. His three older siblings all died in the past decade.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B singer-songwriter Luther Vandross, who has battled weight and health problems for years, has suffered a stroke just days before his 52nd birthday, his record label said on Thursday.
Vandross, a five-time Grammy winner who launched a successful comeback two years ago, was undergoing medical treatment after being stricken on Wednesday, J Records said in a statement.
"Vandross is under medical care, and his family and friends are hopeful for a speedy recovery," Carmen Romano, the entertainer's business manager, said in the statement.
His whereabouts were not disclosed, and officials at New York-based J Records were not immediately available for comment.
Famed for his silky, soulful crooning as well as for his songwriting and production prowess, Vandross turns 52 on Sunday. Since launching his solo career in 1981 after a successful stint as a back-up vocalist for the likes of David Bowie and Bette Midler, he has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.
"There are vocalists, and then there's Luther," Motown singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson told Rolling Stone magazine in 1990. "Luther's in a class by himself."
Beginning with his 1981 album, "Never Too Much," the first of a chain of million-sellers, an unabashed Vandross bared his soul in sophisticated ballads that bridged the divide between classic soul and contemporary slickness.
He also produced for such stars as Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, and Whitney Houston.
Unlike other male singers, Vandross eschewed a macho posture, but did not come across as too wimpish, either. He established a new style that influenced such singers as Freddie Jackson, Keith Washington and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
He became a frequent fixture on the urban music charts, but mainstream success eluded him until 1989, when he enjoyed his first Top 10 pop hit with "Here and Now," a track tacked onto a compilation album, "The Best of Luther Vandross ... The Best of Love." That song has since become something of a classic wedding ballad.
He was sometimes called the "Love Doctor," but Vandross did not want to be lumped in with peers who performed ladies-only shows or hauled beds out onto the stage.
"I want to be remembered as one of the premier singers of our time, not as the 'Love Doctor' or the 'Master of Bedroom Music,"' he told Reuters in a 1996 interview.
In addition to struggling with his image, the 6-foot-3 musician also struggled with his weight, which fluctuated between 340 pounds and 190 pounds during his adult life. When he released his last record, his self-titled debut for J in 2001, he was a relatively lithe 220 pounds. He also suffered from mild diabetes.
"If I'm emotionally distraught, then eating is my coping mechanism," Vandross told Britain's Q magazine in 1991. "For what ails me, it seems to be the only thing that takes the edge off the pain."
A year before, Vandross had appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to celebrate the loss of 122 pounds on a liquid diet. But a year later, photographers were banned from shooting him below the chest.
His first break in show business came in 1972 when his composition "Everybody Rejoice (A Brand New Day)" was included in the hit Broadway musical "The Wiz."
Two years later, David Bowie asked him to arrange and sing backgrounds on his "Young Americans" album, which also included the Vandross song "Fascination." After logging more backup work, he took the advice of one of his employers, Roberta Flack, and recorded the demos for the album that would become "Never Too Much."
Vandross never married and has no children. His three older siblings all died in the past decade.