Luther - 10 years on...

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the passing of American singer, songwriter and record producer Luther Vandross. 

Throughout his career, Vandross was an in demand background vocalist for several different artists including Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He was also a young session singer at the time of the creation of Chic and appeared on their early albums.

He later became the lead singer of the group Change, which released its certified gold debut album, The Glow of Love. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much which was the first of his 13 studio albums.

He won 8 Grammys from a massive haul of 31 nominations and was also awarded (posthumously) a Hollywood Walk of Fame star only last year.

Luther passed away on July 1, 2005 at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey at the age of 54 of a heart attack having suffered from diabetes and hypertension for much of his life.  

Hear songs and relive the memories throughout the day today on Jazz FM.