LUTHER VANDROSS R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY!

LUTHER VANDROSS  4/20/51 – 7/1/05

I was also deeply affected by the passing yesterday of my friend Luther Vandross. Everyone thought he was recovering from a stroke so nicely…but it’s all in Gods hands.

“I became friendly with Luther when he was a loyal customer at Allan Rinde’s Genghis Cohen, a Chinese restaurant and Hollywood hangout, which I named and hosted. Luther would come in, sit and eat a couple of Peking ducks for dinner (by himself) and order one of my hand painted shirts for dessert. Sometimes he’d bring in old music business pals of Allan and mine and we’d all have a good old time!

I was impressed with Luther’s artistry from his first album, which my friend, Jerome Gasper, who signed Luther to Epic played me. He wrote most of the
material he recorded and hit the heart everytime out. I told him, with every new album release how much I admired him maintaining an evolving level of musical excellence, while the R and B genre all around us was all but disappearing.

Just as Luther Vandross’ music has transcended generations…I’m sure it will continue to emotionally influence us for years to come.”

From my forthcoming book, “I Did It For A Song”
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne
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