Luther Vandross

Blige, Usher, Fantasia , Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Angie Stone, and Jamie Foxx. The company has also been sued by Sedona in connection with this trading. The artists on this compilation include Stevie Wonder, Mary J. The company had been implicated in "naked" short sales on the stock of a company called Sedona Corp., disclosed that it was negotiating the SEC and hoped to reach a settlement that would likely include an injunction against future violations and "payment of a substantial civil penalty." Refco put $5 million in reserve in anticipation of the settlement. The album is a collection of some of Luther's songs performed by various artists. On May 16, 2005, the company disclosed that it had received a "Wells Notice," indicating it might face charges related to improper short selling at its Refco Securities unit and other matters. On September 20th the album "So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross" was released. In 2001, the NFA ordered Refco to pay $43 million to 13 investors after their Refco broker used bogus order tickets to clear trades.

In 2002, BET put the question to Vandross in an interview televised on its show Journeys in Black. Vandross refused to address questions of his sexuality, and instead told BET it was none of their business and separated his personal life from his professional one. The 1978 "cattle futures" trading scandal in which Hillary Clinton was allowed to trade large positions on inadequate capital, and possibly the allocation of profitable trading by others into her account, was played out in Refco accounts. Vandross was as famous for keeping his personal life private as he was for his singing. According to the Wall Street Journal, it was "among the most cited brokers in the business, according to data provided by the NFA.". The entertainer said his "busy lifestyle" made marriage difficult; and indicated that "it was not what he wanted.". The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Futures Association took action against Refco and its units more than 100 times since the firm's founding. The "lifelong bachelor" never had any children, but doted on his nieces and nephews. Refco has not enjoyed a clean reputation with regulators.

There have been many questions regarding Vandross' sexuality, mainly due to the fact that he remained a bachelor all of his life. He is currently under investigation by regulators who suspect he may have known something about Bennett's malfeasance. He has been quoted as calling Vandross "a very worthy rival," and "one of the best singers in the music industry.". It is unclear why the firm's Chief Financial Officer had not spotted the loan, but the firm's previous CFO, Robert Trosten, left Refco in October 2004 with a $45 million payout that was not disclosed in the firm's IPO prospectus. However, since Vandross' death, Jackson's feelings have turned noticeably softer. This left the position on the books for James to find. Even some music critics joked, "Well, it's a shame that Luther Vandross and Freddie Jackson never did 'The Girl is Mine' together!". Apparently, in the fiscal quarter before the story broke, Bennett failed to execute his temporary Liberty Strategies-hidden repayment of debt.

When the song came out, Brandy was often compared to Vandross, and Monica was inserted into Jackson's role. The apparent fraud was caught by Peter James, Refco's newly hired controller. Because of this, they are blamed for inspiring future rivalries in R&B/hip-hop music, especially that of Brandy and Monica, who recorded a duet called "The Boy is Mine" in 1998. The Austrian National Bank and Financial Market Authority are investigating Bawag's involvement with Refco. Many times, Vandross and Jackson were very unfriendly to each other, and their encounters were often heated. The Refco stock that collateralized the loan is now worthless, and on November 16, Bawag joined the line of people suing Refco, demanding 350 million Euros plus punitive damages in compensation for the company's failure to disclose information that would have discouraged Bawag from lending the money to Bennett. Vandross' best-known rivalry was the one with Freddie Jackson, which was started in the mid-1980s. The loan was granted on October 10, and Bennett used it to pay off the hidden $430 million.

In later years, artists like Gerald Levert, James Ingram and Phil Collins shared friendly rivalries with him. On October 5, before news of the hidden loan was made public, Phillip Bennett applied for a 350 million euro loan, to be collateralized with his shares in Refco. In the early stages of his solo career, Vandross' rivals included Peabo Bryson, Teddy Pendergrass and Jeffrey Osborne. In 1999, Bawag purchased 10% of Refco in a private transaction, and had an outstanding loan of 75 million euros to Refco at the time the firm collapsed. It was with Beyoncé that he recorded yet another cover of a well-known song, "The Closer I Get To You", originally recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Group, an Austrian bank that lent Bennett the money to repay Refco. Besides Studdard, Vandross also inspired countless other artists, both male and female, such as Boyz II Men, Usher, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Brandy. Ross Capital is run by Wolfgang Flottl, whose father used to run Bawag P.S.K.

Vandross inspired his J Records labelmate, Ruben Studdard, the American Idol of 2003. Ross Capital has also been named by the Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources as one of the firms with losses that somehow led to Bennett's $430 million debt. His hit "Love Power" included snippets of the soul classic "The Power of Love." Another hit, "Bad Boy (Having a Party)," contained a passage from Sam Cooke's "Having a Party.". If Refco did suffer a loss, I am confident that it was quite minimal relative to the $460 million receivable said to have been a key link in the firm’s debacle, or to the actual sums that the principals and key players of the firm took out many years later." The story in the Journal implies that Refco settled Niederhoffer's debt for positions that were worth less than he owed them, or perhaps that they accrued trading losses unwinding those positions. Vandross did many covers of older songs, such as "Since I Lost My Baby" (originally recorded by The Temptations), "Superstar (Until You Come Back To Me)" (originally recorded by The Carpenters and most recently covered by Ruben Studdard), "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (originally recorded by Major Harris), "Always and Forever" (originally recorded by Heatwave), "Knocks Me Off My Feet" (originally recorded by Stevie Wonder), and "Lovely Day" (originally recorded by Bill Withers), and "A House is Not A Home", a Burt Bacharach standard. I don't know how much money Refco received for these assets, or how it accounted for the transaction, or whether it ended up with a profit or loss. Vandross was inspired by the soul divas of the 1960s: Dionne Warwick, Patti Labelle & the Bluebells, Diana Ross & the Supremes and Aretha Franklin, for whom he eventually produced a few albums. "Refco received considerable assets from us as part of our agreement.

After two days of viewing, Vandross was buried in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. "There were no debts, loans, or any other financial obligations left open between us," Niederhoffer said. His funeral was in New York on July 8, 2005. 29, 1997, in the presence of two major law firms and under the close scrutiny of regulators. We lost Luther very early because of his medical condition, but his legacy will be a powerful legacy.". Niederhoffer said on his Web site in response to these news articles that Refco wanted to take over the assets in his accounts and assume all the liabilities in order to meet capital requirements, and that he and Refco signed a formal agreement to that effect on Oct. Jesse Jackson, a friend of Vandross, described him as "a boy so mellow, so powerful; a boy of rare, rare vintage. Though no detailed report on Bennett's transactions has been made public, anonymous sources cited by the Wall Street Journal and other publications have stated that the debt stemmed from losses in as many as 10 customer trading accounts, including that of Ross Capital, and the widely reported October 27, 1997, trading losses of hedge fund manager Victor Niederhoffer.

The Rev. The hearing on Refco's request is scheduled for February 14. It was reported that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends. On January 25, 2006, Refco asked the bankruptcy court to approve appointment of Christie's auction house to sell Refco's prized art collection, which includes photographs by Charles Ray and Andy Warhol. At this time, the cause of death is not known, although hospital spokesman Rob Cavanaugh has said that Vandross never recovered from the 2003 stroke. The purchased Refco units will cease the use of the Refco name on Monday, November 28th. He was 54. The company is an arm of the UK-based Man Group.

Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. The company's bankruptcy auction of its commodities and futures business ended on November 10th, with the final purchaser being announced as Man Financial, a rival in the commodities and futures fields. On the videotape on which Vandross appeared he sent an emotional message that said: "Whenever I say goodbye it's never for long because I believe in the power of love." Vandross died on July 1, 2005 at John F. Lee Partners, Grant Thornton, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Goldman Sachs. (Although the cause of Vandross' stroke was not specifically attributed to diabetes, diabetics have been identified as being much more susceptible to strokes.) Although he appeared briefly on videotape at the 2004 Grammys to accept his Song of the Year award, he was never seen in public again. As of October 27, shareholders of Refco have filed class action lawsuits against Refco, Thomas H. On April 16, 2003, Vandross suffered a stroke in his home in Manhattan. Lee Partners, L.P., a highly regarded buyout fund, and the reputation of its managers has been similarly sullied.

Luther Jr.'s two sisters and a brother also predeceased him. Their largest private investor was Thomas H. was eight years old. Their auditors, Grant Thornton, and the investment banks that handled the IPO, Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America Corp., all supposedly completed due diligence on the company, and all missed the CEO's hiding $430 million in bad debts. His father, Luther Sr., died of complications from diabetes when Luther Jr. Refco had sold shares to the public in a public offering only two months before revealing the apparent fraud. His weight fluctuated several times over the years, and Vandross had weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg) at his heaviest. Though of much smaller size, the regulatory impact of the scandal will be larger than for probably any other corporate failure except for Enron.

Vandross had diabetes, a disease that ran in his family, as well as hypertension. However, the bankruptcy judge in charge of the case decided that the break-up fee was unjustified due to the other interested parties not demanding a similar fee, leading to the Flowers group withdrawing their bid. The stars include Beyonce, Ruben Studdard, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones submitted home videos or pictures of their families for the music video. These offers were for a time rebuffed, as the Flowers-led group would receive a "break-up" fee if Refco were to sell itself to one of these other parties. The video for the title track features a various celebreties alongside their dads and family members. However, other bidders have emerged, including Interactive Brokers and Dubai Investments, the investment division of the country of Dubai, who have offered to buy the entire company. The album was also the first album by Vandross to reach #1 on the Billboard album chart. LLC for about $768 million.

The song also won Vandross his fourth and final award in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. Flowers & Co. The title track, which was dedicated to the memory of the younger Vandross' childhood dances with his father, won Luther and his co-writer, singer Richard Marx, the 2004 Grammy Award for Song Of The Year. Refco also announced a tentative agreement to sell its regulated futures and commodities business, which isn't covered by the bankruptcy filing, to a group led by J.C. In 2003, Vandross released the album Dance With My Father in memory of his father. However, the company subsequently submitted a revised document, claiming it had $16.5 billion in assets and $16.8 billion in liabilities. His first album on Clive Davis' new label, entitled Luther Vandross, was released in 2001, and it produced the hits "Take You Out," "Grown Thangs" and "I'd Rather.". At the time, it declared assets of around $49 billion, which would have made it the fourth largest bankruptcy filing in American history.

After recording "I Know" on Virgin Records, he signed with J Records. filed for chapter 11 for a number of its businesses, to seek protection from its creditors on Monday, October 17, 2005. A second greatest hits album, released in 1997, compiled most of his 1990s hits and was his final record released through Epic Records. Refco, Inc. In the Grammy Awards of 1997, he won his third Best Male R&B Vocal for the track "Your Secret Love". Before the halt, the shares were trading for more than $28 per share, and as of October 19, they had dropped (on the pink sheets) to $0.80 per share. He also sang a duet with Frank Sinatra on Sinatra's Duets album. As of October 19, trading of Refco's shares has been halted on the New York Stock Exchange, which is moving to permanently delist the shares.

Vandross hit the top ten again in 1994 with "Endless Love", a duet with Mariah Carey and a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's hit song from the film Endless Love. His lawyer has said that Bennett plans to fight the charges. In 1993, Vandross had a nonspeaking role in the Robert Townsend movie Meteor Man. He played a hit man who plotted to stop Townsend's title character. mail, interstate commerce, and securities exchanges to lie to investors. In 1992, "The Best Things in Life are Free", a duet with Janet Jackson from the movie Mo' Money became a hit. Bennett was arrested and charged with one count of securities fraud for using U.S. He won his second Best Male R&B Vocal in the Grammy Awards of 1992 with the track "Power of Love/Love Power" winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in the same year. This announcement triggered a number of investigations, and on October 12 Mr.

More albums followed in the 1990s, beginning with 1991's Power of Love which spawned two top ten pop hits. should no longer be relied upon.". His songs also became popular on smooth jazz radio. LLC and Refco Finance Inc. In addition, the song allowed him to expand his musical horizons beyond R&B. 28, 2005, and May 31, 2005, taken as a whole, for each of Refco Inc., Refco Group Ltd. "Here and Now" became a staple at weddings, and on Soft AC radio. 28, 2004, Feb.

He also won his first award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in the Grammy Awards of 1991. 28, 2003, Feb. The 1989 compilation of greatest hits, The Best Of Luther Vandross...The Best Of Love, included the ballad "Here And Now", the first Vandross single to chart in the Billboard pop chart Top Ten. 28, 2002, Feb. (Franklin saw some moderate commercial success with those Vandross-produced tracks after a long chart absence.). As a result, Refco said, "its financial statements, as of, and for the periods ended, Feb. He was also in demand as a producer; he was at the helm for Aretha Franklin's albums "Jump To It" and "Get It Right". The law requires that such financial connections between corporation and its own top officers be shown as what is known as a related-party transaction in various financial statements.

He also sang duets with Dionne Warwick and Cheryl Lynn. On October 20, they announced plans to sue Refco. During the 1980s, Vandross had two other singles that reached #1 on the R&B charts: "Stop to Love" in 1986 and a duet with Gregory Hines "There's Nothing Better Than Love". Bennett secretly controlled. Vandross had more modest success on the pop charts during this time. It is not yet clear if Liberty knew it was hiding sham transactions; management of the fund has claimed that they believed it was borrowing from one Refco subsidiary and lending to another Refco sub, and not lending to an entity that Mr. Although the albums were very successful overall, many of his earlier albums made a much bigger impact on the R&B charts. Bennett's company then paid the money back to Refco, leaving Liberty as the apparent borrower when financial statements were prepared.

Vandross released a series of million-selling albums during the 1980s and continued his session work with guest vocals on groups like Charme in 1982. He arranged at the end of every quarter for a Refco subsidiary to lend money to a hedge fund called Liberty Corner Capital Strategy, which then lent the money to Refco Group Holdings. Their 1980 hits, "The Glow of Love" and "Searching" led to a recording contract with Epic Records, and in 1981, he made his solo recording debut with the LP "Never Too Much." The album, which contained the track "A House is Not a Home" went double platinum, with the song "Never Too Much" reaching #1 on the R&B charts. Apparently, Bennett had been buying bad debts from Refco in order to prevent the company from needing to write them off, and was paying for the bad loans with money borrowed by Refco itself. He eventually made his breakthrough as a guest singer with the group Change. Bennett, in the amount of approximately US$430 million. His lead vocals can be heard on the Gregg Diamond produced single "Hot Butterfly" from Bionic Boogie in 1978 which gained moderate nightclub success. Refco said that through an internal review over the preceding weekend it discovered a receivable owed to the company by an unnamed entity that turned out to be controlled by Mr.

He created and/or sang jingles for such well known advertising campaigns as Kentucky Fried Chicken's "We Do Chicken Right," NBC's "Proud As A Peacock" & The US Army's "Be All You Can Be." Vandross continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 70's. Bennett had hidden $430 million in bad debts from the company's auditors and investors, and had agreed to take a leave of absence. Vandross also wrote and sang commercials jingles during the late 1970s & early '80s earning upwards of $600,000 per year around the New York area. entered crisis on Monday, October 10, 2005 when it announced that its chief executive officer and chairman, Phillip R. Vandross bought back the rights to these albums after the record label dropped the group, preventing their later re-release. Refco, Inc. The group had a successful single entitled "It's Good for the Soul," although their two albums - the self-titled "Luther" in 1976 and "This Close to You" in 1977 - failed to make an impact. .

Before his breakthrough, he released two albums with a singing group he formed, also called Luther, on Cotillion Records. Investors had been pleased to buy shares because of Refco's history of profit growth -- they had reported 33% average annual gains in earnings over the four years before their initial public offering. She believed he was an incredible talent who, in addition to his songwriting and production skills, deserved to be heard for his si. It closed the day over 25% higher than that, valuing the entire company at about $3.5 billion. Roberta Flack pushed Vandross into starting his own career. Refco became a public company on August 11, 2005 with the sale of $26.5 million shares to the public at $22. During the beginning of his career, Vandross was content to remain mostly in the background, as a producer and backup singer for other artists. Though these filings have since been disowned by the company, they are probably roughly accurate in showing the firm's level of leverage.

Vandross also sang backing vocals for Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Chic, and Barbra Streisand. The firm's balance sheet at the time of the collapse showed about $75 billion in assets and a roughly equal amount in liabilities. He ended up singing background vocals on Bowie's album Young Americans.. Friedman and Co." Prior to its collapse in October, 2005, the firm had over $4 billion in approximately 200,000 customer accounts, and it was the largest broker on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Vandross wrote "Everybody Rejoice," for the 1972 show The Wiz. However, Vandross had dropped out of the music scene when a friend from theater workshop invited him to sing in David Bowie's soul-influenced Diamond Dogs tour and appear as the opening act with the Mike Garson Band in 1974. It was founded in 1969 as "Ray E. His next recording credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972. Refco (OTCBB: RFXCQ) is a New York-based financial services company, primarily known as a broker of commodities and futures contracts.

He was also a member of a theater workshop at the time and appeared on the first episode of Sesame Street in October 1969. His first recording credit was as producer of the album Soul Christmas in 1968 and appeared as a vocalist on a Quincy Jones album Best in 1969. Vandross formed a vocal group in high school which once played at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. He knew then that he wanted to be a singer.

His life-changing moment came when at the age of 13 he heard Dionne Warwick sing Anyone Who Had A Heart (a song he would cover in his later years). His sister sang with vocal group The Crests who had a number one hit in the early 1960's with "Sixteen Candles." Vandross' father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, Vandross grew up in a musical family that moved to the Bronx when he was 13. .

He won four Grammy awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the track "Dance With My Father," co-written with Richard Marx. During his career, Vandross sold 25 million albums and won eight Grammy awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times. Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American R&B singer. ISBN: 0060594187.

New York: Harper. Luther : The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross. (2004). 2004 "Dance with My Father" #38 US, #21 UK.

from Dance with My Father