He quickly became more than an observer, singing background vocals, serving as a vocal arranger, and co-writing the song 'Fascination' with Bowie. In 1974, though uncredited, he sang background vocals on Maggie Bell's Queen of the Night, and in August of the same year Carlos Alomar, who had become David Bowie's guitarist, invited him to attend a Bowie recording session at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. In 1973, Vandross got two of his compositions, 'In This Lovely Hour' and 'Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me,' recorded by Delores Hall on her album Hall-Mark, singing the latter song with her as a duet. He spent the next few years working at odd jobs while trying to break into the music business. After graduating from high school that year, Vandross attended Western Michigan University, but dropped out after a year and returned home. All five, along with 11 other teenage performers, were also part of a musical theater workshop, Listen, My Brother, organized by the Apollo Theater in Harlem that recorded a single, 'Listen, My Brother'/'Only Love Can Make a Better World,' and appeared on the initial episodes of the children's television series Sesame Street in 1969.

While attending William Howard Taft High School, he formed a vocal group, Shades of Jade, with friends Carlos Alomar, Robin Clark, Anthony Hinton, Diane Sumler, and Fonzi Thornton. After the death of his father in 1959 when he was eight years old, he was raised by his mother, who moved the family to the Bronx. Vandross, Sr.'s older sister Patricia Van Dross was an early member of the Crests in the mid-'50s (appearing on their early singles, but leaving before they achieved success with 'Sixteen Candles'), and Vandross himself began playing the piano at the age of three and took lessons at five, although he remained a largely self-taught musician. Both of his parents, Luther Vandross, Sr., an upholsterer, and Mary Ida Vandross, a nurse, sang, and they encouraged their children to pursue music as a career. Smith housing projects in lower Manhattan. Vandross was born in New York City on April 20, 1951, and grew up in the Alfred E. Possessed of a smooth, versatile tenor voice, he charmed millions with his romantic music. He was, however, equally well known for his distinctive interpretations of classic pop and R&B songs, reflecting his knowledge and appreciation of the popular music of his youth. He also performed these functions for other artists, providing them with hits as well. and around the world, but he also took charge of his music creatively, writing or co-writing most of his songs and arranging and producing his records. Not only did he score a series of multi-million-selling albums containing chart-topping hit singles and perform sold-out tours of the U.S. Luther Vandross was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1980s and '90s.

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