After the turn of the 21st Century, Luther Vandross was already considered an R&B icon. The New York native, who was born in lower Manhattan and grew up in the Bronx, sold well over 40 million albums and garnered dozens of multi-platinum hit singles over his nearly four-decade-long career. That doesn’t even include the several Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, and Soul Train Music Awards the singer/songwriter earned before his untimely death in 2005. He was only 54.

The legendary run Vandross had on Epic Records from 1981's debut Never Too Much to 1996’s Your Secret Love produced plenty of classic R&B standards outside of the titular singles, such as “Here and Now,” “So Amazing,” “Stop To Love,” “Power of Love (Love Power),” the Mariah Carey “Endless Love” duet, and countless others that have become staples at weddings, anniversaries, engagements, and other moments where love is at the forefront.

That doesn’t mean that Vandross’ commercial appeal wasn’t in question following the release of 1998’s I Know. His sole release through Virgin Records became his first album in over a decade to miss charting on the top 10 album charts and went on to only achieve gold RIAA certification that year.

Despite achieving a level of popularity that many artists would die for, Vandross had yet to have an album or single reach the absolute top of the charts. One person who understood his dilemma was Alfonso “Fonzi” Thornton. The two met when they were 14 years old, performing together in singing groups across New York City. Thornton became one of Vandross’ original background vocalists and music collaborators, but his most favorite role was being his best friend.

“He watched Michael Jackson, he watched Lionel Richie, he watched Bobby McFerrin, and so many other top male Black singer/songwriters have number one records, number one pop songs, and R&B [hits] and he never had that,” said Thornton to BET.com.

Music listeners wanted a fresh perspective from Vandross, so his eventual move to Clive Davis’ J Records in late 2000 made more than enough sense. The record label that Davis created following his corporate push from Arista Records had already made noise with Alicia Keys’ explosive debut, Songs In A Minor. Meanwhile, Davis was already familiar with Vandross’ work considering he had written hits for a number of Arista artists, including Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Dionne Warwick. Vandross’ songwriting prowess and propensity for scoring commercial jingles are, in fact, so remarkable that they deserve to be explained and explored in a separate story.

"Naturally, Clive wanted to know what I wanted to accomplish," Vandross said in a 2001 Washington Post interview. "I told him point-blank: I want mainstream success. It's something we specifically, repeatedly talked about."

The first attempt didn’t fulfill that exact promise of getting a number one, but it did serve as a first step in Vandross’ commercial re-emergence. Through a new deal with J Records, Vandross worked with frequent collaborators Nat Adderley, Jr., and Marcus Miller while also being introduced to some of the biggest R&B hitmakers at the time, including Warryn Campbell and The Underdogs. The approach of blending a traditional and modern sound led to his self-titled 2001 J Records debut, simply titled Luther Vandross. The album featured the hit “Take You Out,” which would be interpolated into the hook for Jay Z’s The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse single “Excuse Me Miss” a year later.

By itself, the album didn’t achieve number one status, but Davis wanted to re-assure Vandross’ commercial viability against changes in the R&B landscape. The reception of Luther Vandross was good enough for J Records to take another shot at a number-one single and album. In 2003, Vandross became more introspective and musically expressive than ever before with Dance With My Father, which became his 13th and final full-length album.

It starts with the lead single of the same name, “Dance With My Father,” which was co-written with Richard Marks, who had already collaborated with Vandross on the track “Isn’t There Someone” from the I Know album. The track was a tribute to Vandross’ father, who died when he was a child. Journalist A. Scott Galloway, who interviewed Vandross’ on several occasions for Urban Network Magazine, mentioned how “Dance With My Father” transcended R&B’s notion of the traditional love song.

“It’s about father and son,” said Galloway. “It’s about a son wishing that he could spend more time with a father that’s no longer here. It’s a message and song that did have great pop crossover potential.”

By the time Dance With My Father was released, he’d finally achieved the goal that always seemed unattainable. The album not only sold 442,000 units the first week but also debuted at the number one spot atop the US Billboard 200 chart while he was still hospitalized after suffering a stroke a month prior to the song’s release in May of 2003. Vandross was in a coma for almost two months. He found himself unable to speak fully, and singing was not a possibility. He became wheelchair bound. Even the music video shot for “Dance With My Father” featured many of his famous A-list celebrity friends, including Beyoncé, Monica, Celine Dion, Patti LaBelle, Brandy, Stevie Wonder, and dozens more. Regardless of his injuries, “Dance With My Father” shot to the top of the charts, and the full album went on to achieve critical success.

The album was praised for Vandross’ ability to take a more traditional approach to musicality while also infusing collaborations with more contemporary artists on credited features. Not only did Vandross have R&B guest appearances from Beyoncé and Next, but also several hip hop features, including Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes, and Queen Latifah. Thornton affirms that Vandross was a hip hop fan and loved the energy the culture presented.

“He loved the dress and outfits; he loved the artist,” Thornton said. “Even on a live album he did at Radio City Music Hall, he did a clever nod to Missy Elliott.” Listening to Vandross’ live album, Live Radio City Music Hall 2003, you’ll notice where he rhymed some of the words of Elliott’s hit single “Work It” and even called it a masterpiece.

Despite not being able to properly promote Dance With My Father, the success of the album earned Vandross four more Grammy Awards, including Song of The Year and Best R&B Album, where he accepted the awards in a pre-taped video segment. By then, his last album had already been certified double platinum.

Making his final public appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show in May 2004, Vandross spoke as if he knew the end was near. “Right now, what I want to get better at may seem strange, but it’s not. I would like to get better at living with this,” Vandross said. “Living with these thoughts. Living with this feeling of the last chapter of a book.”

Medical personnel and Vandross’ close friends, like Thornton, took over his daily care after he was released from a rehabilitation facility. Even with their level of proximity to him, no one expected that the end was truly near for him.

“The doctors said that they thought there was going to be a matter of time as he continued to recuperate, but we never knew that we were going to lose him,” Thornton said. “I know that a stroke or any of those kinds of things are major things because your body takes control. Your mind is no longer controlling your body. We were thinking that he was getting better and that he would return to the stage at some point. His closest friends didn’t know that we were going to lose him.”

Over a year later, Vandross died on July 1, 2005. Celebrities representing various aspects of pop culture and the Black community, from Rev. Jessie Jackson and Usher to Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle, attended his funeral. Vandross left a powerfully impactful legacy that’s still felt in music 20 years after achieving a number one album with Dance With My Father. Fans are being reintroduced to his hits, and a new, younger audience is suddenly being introduced to his best work.

Vandross’ name has popped up in different incarnations this year. There’s word that Jamie Foxx is joining a group of producers working on a feature-length music documentary on Vandross’ life and career. There’s there’s the partnership between the Luther Vandross Estate that began in 2021 with music publishing and estate management house Primary Wave.

Adam Lowenberg, the Chief Marketing Officer for Primary Wave Music, which also handles the estates of James Brown, Whitney Houston, Prince, and others, explained some of the work the company has done on behalf of the Vandross estate.

“Everything we do is very thoughtful,” said Lowenberg. “These are all pieces in the overall strategy of getting Luther Vandross's name back on the tongues of everyone. That’s a challenge that we love with all of our iconic artists because a lot of these artists, in most cases, are relegated to the catalog divisions of the major labels that they were with.”

Earlier this summer, in June, “Dance With My Father” was re-released in a high-resolution Dolby Atmos format across major digital music streaming services. Lowenberg said that the advent of Dolby Atmos brought a whole new quality of sound to the legendary recording. “That was an important piece of the overall marketing campaign, which is the ability for the listener and for fans to hear it in a more pristine manner,” said Lowenberg.

Recently, the estate partnered with storied brand Waterford  for the launch of the Luther 81 X. The limited collection features crystal glasses, decanters, a 12-inch LP plaque, and cocktail shakers, among others inspired by Vandross’ debut single “Never Too Much.” In a cool nod to the track, the dual pair of glasses have 500 karo kiss cuts etched into each piece and are an homage to the lyrics of his 1981 Platinum single, "Never Too Much," where he sings, “...a thousand kisses from you is never too much.” The goal was to have a representation of the soulful elegance of Vandross’ legendary musical sound and the decadence of his lifestyle.

"This partnership was particularly important to me as I wanted to celebrate the impact that Luther not only had on me personally but on fans all around the world, across cultures and generations," said Alice Bastin, Waterford's creative director, in a statement to BET.com.

“Luther lived a very upscale life,” said Thornton, reflecting on the singer's penchant for all things elegant and beautiful. “The brother grew up in the tenements in the Bronx. He and his mother were on public assistance. The brother raised himself from the humblest of beginnings to an amazingly opulent life. He had three different mansions, owned amazing cars, wore Versace and Gucci, and he had plenty of crystals.”

Proceeds from The Luther 81 X collection will go to the Luther Vandross Foundation, which was created by Vandross’ estate to continue the singer’s mission to help students attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through financial assistance. To help launch the crystal line, the estate, Primary Wave, and Waterford held a fundraising event in Philadelphia in June.

“Luther was a champion of higher learning,” explained Thornton. “He was someone who helped put the children of band members through school and helped them with scholarships. He contributed to the United Negro College Fund and the NAACP. So far, the foundation has given away more than a million and a half dollars to students from HBCUs.”

With every door that was opened or that he had to kick open, Vandross proved he could excel while also maintaining his humanity for people around the world. Whether it be singing someone else’s song in the most brilliant way, writing his own heart-warming songs, or producing hits for other people, there are levels to the things he did, affirms Galloway.

“The multitude of artists that he influenced usually picked one or two things of his that they tried to do,” Galloway said. “When it comes to longevity and full-compass excellence, that’s what Vandross stood for. Pure excellence. It’s a bar that I don’t believe can be topped. It’s just a bar that he has set very high for whoever’s coming behind him.”

Ural Garrett is an Inglewood,CA-based entertainment and tech writer documenting the intersections of pop and digital culture. Follow him at @UralG on X (Twitter.)