(Fascination) Your soul is calling...
Sad to report that soul legend
In 2003 he suffered a debilitating stroke which left him in a wheelchair and he had been battling diabetes and hypertension alongside fluctuations in his weight for many years.
Bowie fans may remember Luther best for his work with David Bowie during the Young Americans period. Luther's first break in the music business came via Bowie, when he was invited by an old school friend and workshop colleague, Carlos Alomar, to join him in the studio with David Bowie for the recording of Young Americans. While recording the album at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, David overheard Luther singing and he was invited to join the backing vocalists on the album.
Luther was also asked to sing backing vocals for David during the latter part of his The Year Of The Diamond Dogs Tour joining the tour at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on 2nd September 1974 with a revamped band. In October, the tour had become known as the Philly Dogs/Soul Tour, and Luther stayed with it until the end of the tour on 1st December 1974.
Vandross also shared a songwriting credit on Young Americans when the recording of the album resumed in November and David partly re-wrote Luther's own Funky Music (Is A Part Of Me) as Fascination. You can hear Luther's version of Funky Music on his self-titled 1976 debut album, Luther.
Luther sang backing vocals one more time with David on the song Underground for the Labyrinth soundtrack.
During his immensely successful solo career, Luther Vandross notched up eight Grammy Awards and sold over 25 million records.