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Luther Vandross: the tragic R&B crooner who struggled for acceptance

A new documentary looks back on the career of a singer whose undeniable talent wasn’t always enough for a limited and image-obsessed industry

Luther Vandross is R&B music’s tragic hero – a soulful soloist who was most popular while singing backup for rockers, a strict disciplinarian who could control everything except his weight, a hopeless romantic who died alone, miserable and far too young. Directed by the biographical film-maker Dawn Porter, produced by Jamie Foxx and arranged by Robert Glasper, the 160-minute film is a stark reminder of the aversions and prejudices that stalled Vandross’s breakthrough and ultimately broke him. He invested a chunk of his earnings and called in favors from Whitney’s mother, Cissy Houston, the Grammy-winning composer Marcus Miller and other super-talented friends to cut the demo for Never Too Much – the buttery groove that effectively changed the tone of R&B music going forward.

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