Luther Vandross left an incredible musical legacy behind at the time of his unfortunate passing at the age of 54. And Hollywood is making sure everyone remembers it.
The late Grammy Award-winning R&B star was honored yesterday (June 3) with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a bevy of famous guests there to witness the event.
Music mogul Clive Davis, “Get Lucky” co-star Nile Rodgers, Alfonso “Fonzi” Thornton, longtime collaborator/bassist Marcus Miller, and Vandross’ niece Seveda Williams were all photographed in attendance.
Via Variety:
“There are a lot of trumpeters who play with a lot technique, and there are a lot of singers who can riff all over the place,” longtime collaborator Marcus Miller once said of Vandross. “But Luther and Miles (Davis), they could play all the notes, but they just played the right notes. They found the notes that would affect you, emotionally.”
I love Stevie Wonder and I love Teddy Pendergrass and I love Donny Hathaway and Tony Bennett for that matter,” Vandross said in a 1982 interview, “but they were not the ones to arouse my musical libido. It was those nights with the earphones listening to Aretha (Franklin) sing ‘Ain’t No Way’ and listening to Dionne Warwick sing ‘People’ and listening to Diana Ross sing ‘Reflections.’ It was those nights that just knocked me down. I emulated these people. And as a result of having a lot of female singers as my idols, my sensitivity level is much different than a lot of other guys singing.”
Vandross won eight Grammy Awards and sold more than 25 million records. Check out all the pictures of the coronation the gallery below.
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Photos: FayesVision/WENN.com
