Giant Pictures shared the trailer for Luther: Never Too Much today. Marvin Gaye referred to Vandross as our “greatest balladeer” when someone tried to give Gaye that accolade. Dawn Porter directed the film and conducted interviews with Dionne Warwick, Jamie Foxx, Mariah Carey, Roberta Flack, Richard Marx, and Fonzi Thornton. Decades of archived footage of Vandross is in the film that debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Vandross started his career as a teenager singing with the dance music group Shades of Jade. In the 1970s, he sang backup for Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Barbara Streisand, and David Bowie. His voice was also heard in several jingles for Kentucky Fried Chicken, NBC, Juicy Fruit, Burger King, and Mountain Dew.
In the ’80s, he was a featured vocalist with the group Change, and they had a hit with “The Glow of Love.” He went solo, and in 1981, Never Too Much was released, and the title track went to number one. His first four albums went platinum, and he lit up the R&B scene with several classic songs like “Don’t You Know That,” “Bad Boy/Having A Party,” “Since I Lost My Baby,” “Give Me The Reason,” “Wait For Love,” his duet with Cheryl Lynn, “If This World Were Mine,” and many more. Whitney Houston once compared Vandross’s voice to “silver because it cannot break.” The singer died in 2005 at the age of 54 after experiencing complications from a stroke. In the 19 years since his passing, music fans, critics, and artists have agreed that his voice is the standard for the male R&B singer. Luther: Never Too Much will have preview showings at AMC theaters on October 30th and open nationwide on November 1st.
