Luther Vandross - Never Too Much

Today (April 20th) would have been the sixty-first birthday of American R&B singer, songwriter and producer Luther Vandross. The multi-Grammy award winning artist passed away on July 1st, 2005, from a heart attack. In 2008, he was ranked at number 54 on Rolling Stone magazine’s List of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

After nearly a decade of singing back-up on records of such performers like Roberta Flack, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Bette Midler and more, Vandross finally was able to cut an album of his own. In August 12th, 1981, his debut album Never Too Much was released on the Epic Records label. It went all the way to number 19 on the US Billboard Album chart and number 1 on the US Billboard R&B charts. It also earned him his first two Grammy Award nominations in the categories of Best New Artist and Best R&B Vocal Performance Male.