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. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa may eventually become states as well. The artists on this compilation include Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Other insular areas such as the U.S. The album is a collection of some of Luther's songs performed by various artists. There are ongoing statehood movements in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and New York City. On September 20th the album "So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross" was released. The United States Army's Institute of Heraldry has plans for flags with up to 56 stars using a similar staggered star arrangement in case additional states accede.

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. (For alternate versions, see this page at Flags of the World.)
. Vandross was as famous for keeping his personal life private as he was for his singing. In the following table depicting the 27 designs of the United States flag, the star patterns for each flag are merely the usual patterns, with the exception of the 48-, 49-, and 50-star flags, as there was no official arrangement of the stars until the proclamation of the 48-star flag by President William Howard Taft in 1912. The entertainer said his "busy lifestyle" made marriage difficult; and indicated that "it was not what he wanted.". By the same reports, this arrangement was rejected due to similarity to the British flag. The "lifelong bachelor" never had any children, but doted on his nieces and nephews. He reportedly originally wanted the stars arranged in four bands, one vertical, one horizontal, and two diagonal.

There have been many questions regarding Vandross' sexuality, mainly due to the fact that he remained a bachelor all of his life. Another popular theory is that the flag was designed by Francis Hopkinson. He has been quoted as calling Vandross "a very worthy rival," and "one of the best singers in the music industry.". Comparisons between the 2 flags support Fawcett's suggestion. However, since Vandross' death, Jackson's feelings have turned noticeably softer. The British historian Sir Charles Fawcett has suggested that the design of the flag may have been derived from the flag and jack of the British East India Company. Even some music critics joked, "Well, it's a shame that Luther Vandross and Freddie Jackson never did 'The Girl is Mine' together!". However, no evidence for this theory exists beyond Ross' own records.

When the song came out, Brandy was often compared to Vandross, and Monica was inserted into Jackson's role. A popular story credits Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch by George Washington who personally commissioned her for the job. 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. flag design is uncertain. Many times, Vandross and Jackson were very unfriendly to each other, and their encounters were often heated. The origin of the U.S. Vandross' best-known rivalry was the one with Freddie Jackson, which was started in the mid-1980s. The flag flew in battle for the first time at Cooch's Bridge in Delaware on September 3, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.

In later years, artists like Gerald Levert, James Ingram and Phil Collins shared friendly rivalries with him. Before that, the admission of Alaska in January 1959 prompted the debut of a short-lived 49-star flag. In the early stages of his solo career, Vandross' rivals included Peabo Bryson, Teddy Pendergrass and Jeffrey Osborne. Heft's design was chosen, after Hawaii gained statehood in August 1959. 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. The most recent change, from forty-nine stars to fifty, occurred in 1960 when Robert G. Besides Studdard, Vandross also inspired countless other artists, both male and female, such as Boyz II Men, Usher, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Brandy. July 4, Independence Day in the United States, commemorates the founding of the nation.

Vandross inspired his J Records labelmate, Ruben Studdard, the American Idol of 2003. When the flag design changes, the change always takes place on July 4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a consequence of the Flag Act of April 4, 1818. 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.". It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner," now the national anthem. 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. It was ultimately decided that there would be a star for each state, but the number of stripes would remain at thirteen to honor the original colonies. 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. As further states entered the union, extra stars and stripes were added until this proved to cause too much clutter.

After two days of viewing, Vandross was buried in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. Initially, a variety of designs were used, including a circular arrangement (below), but gradually a design featuring horizontal rows of stars emerged as the standard. His funeral was in New York on July 8, 2005. The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement for the stars. We lost Luther very early because of his medical condition, but his legacy will be a powerful legacy.". Tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June of 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment. Jesse Jackson, a friend of Vandross, described him as "a boy so mellow, so powerful; a boy of rare, rare vintage. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year.

The Rev. Since 1937, the District of Columbia has used a flag based on this design. It was reported that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends. The red-and-white stripe (and later, stars-and-stripes) motif of the flag may have been based on the Washington family coat-of-arms, which consisted of a shield "argent, two bars gules, above, three mullets gules" (a white shield with two red bars below three red stars). 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 Grand Union Flag is the same as the East India Company flag of the same era, although the East India Company flag could have from 9 to 13 stripes. He was 54. This flag formed the basis of the Stars and Stripes, consisting of 13 red and white stripes with the British Union Jack in the canton.

Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. This flag was initially flown by George Washington and is recorded as being first raised by Washington's troops at Prospect Hill on New Year's Day in 1776. 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. At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, the most commonly flown flag was the Grand Union Flag. (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. The current 50-star version will tie the record if it is still in use on July 4, 2007. On April 16, 2003, Vandross suffered a stroke in his home in Manhattan. The 48-star version holds the record, 47 years, for the longest time the flag has gone unchanged.

Luther Jr.'s two sisters and a brother also predeceased him. The flag has gone through 26 changes since the new union of 13 states first adopted it. was eight years old. According to Presidential proclamation, Congressional order, and custom, the American flag is displayed continuously at the following locations:. His father, Luther Sr., died of complications from diabetes when Luther Jr. According to the New York Public Library Desk Reference:. His weight fluctuated several times over the years, and Vandross had weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg) at his heaviest. the Philippines, also use this method to fold their flags.

Vandross had diabetes, a disease that ran in his family, as well as hypertension. Former American territories, e.g. The stars include Beyonce, Ruben Studdard, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones submitted home videos or pictures of their families for the music video. The final triangle shape result is said to invoke the image of the three-point hats popular during the American Revolutionary War. The video for the title track features a various celebreties alongside their dads and family members. Flags, when not in use, should be folded into a triangle shape. The album was also the first album by Vandross to reach #1 on the Billboard album chart. Instead, the flag should be moved so it is not touching the ground.

The song also won Vandross his fourth and final award in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. Contrary to a commonly believed urban legend, the flag code does not state that a flag that touches the ground should be burned. 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. In other countries and places, local etiquette applies. In 2003, Vandross released the album Dance With My Father in memory of his father. jurisdiction. 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.". This etiquette is as applied within U.S.

After recording "I Know" on Virgin Records, he signed with J Records. These are guidelines, not laws; there is no penalty for failure to comply with them. A second greatest hits album, released in 1997, compiled most of his 1990s hits and was his final record released through Epic Records. There are certain guidelines for the use and display of the United States flag as outlined in the United States Flag Code of the federal government. In the Grammy Awards of 1997, he won his third Best Male R&B Vocal for the track "Your Secret Love". According to Heft, his teacher did keep to their agreement and changed his grade to an "A" for the project. He also sang a duet with Frank Sinatra on Sinatra's Duets album. Heft's flag design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii was admitted into the union in 1959.

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. After discussing the grade with his teacher, it was agreed (somewhat jokingly) that if the flag was accepted by Congress, the grade would be reconsidered. 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. He originally received a "B-" for the project. In 1992, "The Best Things in Life are Free", a duet with Janet Jackson from the movie Mo' Money became a hit. His mother was a seamstress, but forced Heft to do all of the work on his own. 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. He was 17 years old at the time and did the flag design as a class project.

More albums followed in the 1990s, beginning with 1991's Power of Love which spawned two top ten pop hits. The current 50-star flag was designed by Robert Heft in 1958 while living with his grandparents in Ohio. His songs also became popular on smooth jazz radio. It gives the colors by reference to "Standard Color Cards of America" maintained by the Color Association of the United States, Inc., as. In addition, the song allowed him to expand his musical horizons beyond R&B. According to Flags of the World, the colors are specified by the General Services Administration "Federal Specification, Flag, National, United States of America and Flag, Union Jack," DDD-F-416E, dated November 27, 1981. "Here and Now" became a staple at weddings, and on Soft AC radio. Presumably E and F are approximations of 7/130 = 0.0[538461], and G and H are approximations of 0.76/12 = 0.06[3].

He also won his first award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in the Grammy Awards of 1991. The specification gives the following values:. 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. The design of the flag is specified by United States Code title 4, chapter 1, section 1 [1]. (Franklin saw some moderate commercial success with those Vandross-produced tracks after a long chart absence.). A book about the flag published by the Congress in 1977 gives further symbolism for the flag:. 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". ^{[USGov 4]}.

He also sang duets with Dionne Warwick and Cheryl Lynn. Reid suggested that the number of stripes be set at thirteen to represent the original 13 colonies and that only the number of stars be set to the number of states. 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". Naval Captain Samuel C. Vandross had more modest success on the pop charts during this time. During the debate that eventually resulted in the Flag Act of 1818, U.S. Although the albums were very successful overall, many of his earlier albums made a much bigger impact on the R&B charts. However, this became unwieldy as states were added to the union.

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. Originally, both the number of stripes and the number of stars were supposed to represent the number of states. 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. Thomson. He eventually made his breakthrough as a guest singer with the group Change. Rather, the meanings were a matter of contemporary fashion and personal preference on the part of Mr. His lead vocals can be heard on the Gregg Diamond produced single "Hot Butterfly" from Bionic Boogie in 1978 which gained moderate nightclub success. Meanings were attached to the colors (which, contrary to popular misinformation, is not part of any of the rules of heraldry).

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. However, on June 20, 1782, Charles Thomson, the secretary of the Continental Congress, gave a report to the Congress defining the new Great Seal of the United States. 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. When the Second Continental Congress proposed the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777, there was no particular symbolism attached to the colors or their arrangement on the flag. Vandross bought back the rights to these albums after the record label dropped the group, preventing their later re-release. Some groups concerned by these actions have proposed a Flag Burning Amendment that would give Congress the authority to outlaw burning the flag in disrespect or protest. 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. Burning the flag has also been used as a deliberate act of disrespect (flag desecration), at times to protest actions by the United States government, or sometimes in displays of anti-Americanism overseas.

Before his breakthrough, he released two albums with a singing group he formed, also called Luther, on Cotillion Records. Then the three pieces are typically placed on a pyre as "Taps" is played. She believed he was an incredible talent who, in addition to his songwriting and production skills, deserved to be heard for his si. The flag is cut into three pieces: first a horizontal cut is made between the seventh and eighth stripes, then a vertical cut separating the star field from the seven shorter stripes. Roberta Flack pushed Vandross into starting his own career. The approved method of destroying old and tattered flags consists of burning them in a simple ceremony. During the beginning of his career, Vandross was content to remain mostly in the background, as a producer and backup singer for other artists. Declaration of Independence.

Vandross also sang backing vocals for Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Chic, and Barbra Streisand. Perhaps most of all they see it as a symbol of individual and personal liberty like those put forth in the U.S. He ended up singing background vocals on Bowie's album Young Americans.. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. 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. They have seen it as representing all of the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the U.S. His next recording credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972. citizens, their flag symbolizes many things.

He was also a member of a theater workshop at the time and appeared on the first episode of Sesame Street in October 1969. To many U.S. 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. war dead. Vandross formed a vocal group in high school which once played at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. On Memorial Day it is common to place small flags by war memorials and next to the graves of U.S. He knew then that he wanted to be a singer. Many institutions, and some homeowners, display the flag year-round, while some reserve flag display for civic holidays like Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, Presidents' Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July.

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. flag is described as "A banner Gules, 6 bars Argent; the canton Azure charged with 50 mullets Argent.". 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. In blazons (a vexillological description using flag terminology), the U.S. . The United States flag is commonly called the "the Stars and Stripes" or "Old Glory," with the latter nickname coined in 1831 by Captain William Driver, a Salem, Massachusetts shipmaster.

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. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies. During his career, Vandross sold 25 million albums and won eight Grammy awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times. The flag of the United States consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American R&B singer. Rectangle of stars: 48, 35, 30, 28, 24, 20. ISBN: 0060594187. Chessboard pattern: 51, 50, 49, 45, 15, 13 (standard).

New York: Harper. No symmetry: 43. Luther : The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross. Both, hence also point symmetry: 50, 48, 46, 45, 44, 37, 36, 34, 33, 32, 28, 26, 24, 20, 15, 13 (standard). (2004). Symmetry with respect to vertical axis: 51, 50, 48, 46, 45, 44, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 21, 20, 15, 13 (standard and Betsy Ross). 2004 "Dance with My Father" #38 US, #21 UK. Symmetry with respect to horizontal axis: 50, 49, 48, 46, 44, 38, 37, 36, 34, 33, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 20, 15, 13 (standard).

from Dance with My Father