Trivia

Discovered by David Bowie, who overheard Luther singing to his song "Young Americans". Bowie put him on the recording of the song.

Because of the stroke he suffered, resulting in a coma, he was unable to record a music video for "Dance with My Father Again", so instead, R&B artists came together to create a "get-well card" as his music video.

In December 1985, he filed a libel suit against a British magazine after it attributed his 85-pound weight loss to AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Vandross said he weighed 325 pounds when he started a diet in May that year.

When he was born, the doctor asked his mother what the child's first and middle names were. She had already picked Luther for a first name but had not thought of a middle name; there happened to be a box of Ronzoni spaghetti on the table next to her bed, so she told the doctor that his middle name was Ronzoni, and that is the name on his birth certificate.

In April 2008, his mother, Mary Ida Vandross, passed away at age 85. She was the last surviving member of the immediate Vandross family.

In the 1970s, he sang backup for Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack and Bette Midler.

His mother almost didn't give birth to him. She had a ruptured appendix and was rushed to the hospital. When the doctor asked his father which one of them to save, he told the doctor to save his wife. Fortunately, she came through the operation successfully and Luther was born, prematurely, but healthy.

On June 10, 2003, his CD "Dance with My Father" was released. It was dedicated to his father, Luther Vandross Sr., who died of complications of diabetes when Luther was eight years old.

The youngest of four siblings, he was also the last one to die. His mother outlived most of her children.

He had long struggled with obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

He died at 1:47 p.m. ET of July 1, 2005, at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey--surrounded by family, friends and a medical support team--from complications of a stroke. He is interred at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1717 North Vine Street in Hollywood, California on June 3, 2014.

Sang background vocals for Richard Marx and Chaka Khan.

His older sister, Patricia Van Dross, was an original member of the 1950s "doo-wop" group The Crests.

On April 20, 2021, he was posthumously honored with a Google Doodle on what would have been his 70th birthday.

On April 16, 2003, he suffered a stroke in his Manhattan apartment which left him in a coma for nearly two months. Shortly after the stroke he also had to fight both meningitis and pneumonia, which necessitated a tracheotomy to help him breathe. He emerged from his coma on June 5, 2003.

On June 12, 2003, he was moved from ICU and upgraded to stable condition.

On January 12, 1986, Jimmy Salvemini, a 15-year-old singer from Star Search (1983), and Larry, his 27-year-old brother and manager, were passengers in Vandross' 1985 Mercedes-Benz convertible, with him driving, on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the north section of the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. He was driving 48 mph in a 35-mph zone when his car veered across the double-yellow center line of the two-lane street, turned sideways, collided with the front of a car that headed southbound, then swung around and hit another car head-on. He and Jimmy were rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Vandross suffered three broken ribs, a broken hip, several bruises and facial cuts. Jimmy Salvemini, who sat in the back of the car, had cuts, bruises and contusions. His older brother, Larry, who was riding on the front passenger seat, was killed during the collision. Vandross faced vehicular manslaughter charges as a result of Larry's death, and his driver's license was suspended for a year. There was no evidence he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Salvemini family filed a wrongful death suit against him. The case was settled out of court with a payment to the Salvemini family of $700,000.

Attended and graduated from William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx, New York.

Briefly attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Had three siblings, he had one brother, Charles Vandross, and two sisters, Patricia Vandross and Ann Vandross, most of them were older and predeceased him.

Was friends with Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle and Teddy Pendergrass.

He was a lifelong Democrat.

Namesake and possible inventor of the Luther Burger, a bacon-cheeseburger served on a glazed donut. In a 1993 interview for "Entertainment Weekly", Vandross said improvising that combo (because he had no burger buns) was the most decadent thing he ever did.

Inspired to become a musician through listening to the likes of Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 557-558. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale (2007).

His nephews and nieces would refer to him as Uncle Ronnie as the name Ronnie is short for his middle name Ronzoni.

Uncle of Seveda Williams.

Son of Luther Vandross, Sr.