Luther Vandross: Last News

The daughter of the late actor John Amos says she was “without words” when learning through media reports this week that her father died in August.

David Bowie famously sang about “Changes” in 1971, and true to his word, he turned and faced the strange on his 1975 LP “Young Americans.”Making a galactic journey from glam-rock to his self-described “plastic soul,” the man who came from Mars as Ziggy Stardust landed in Philadelphia to record his game-changing classic that came out 50 years ago on March 7, 1975.But the rock star — who died at 69 from liver cancer in 2016 — wasn’t exactly greeted with brotherly love in the city.“We were going to the birthplace of so many hits,” Tony Visconti — the “Young Americans” producer who had worked with Bowie since 1968 — exclusively told The Post. “But [Kenny] Gamble and [Leon] Huff, they didn’t want to work with us.”Indeed, the Sound of Philadelphia architects behind such R&B greats as the O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were not open to this Brit invading their territory.“They actually said, ‘We don’t want no white boy stealing our music’ or something like that,” said Visconti, 80.But Bowie was on a makeover mission that could not be stopped on “Young Americans,” assembling his own soul squad, including Sly & the Family Stone drummer Andrew Newmark, Donny Hathaway bassist Willie Weeks, James Brown saxophonist David Sanborn and an emerging background singer by the name of Luther Vandross at Sigma Sound — the Philly studio where many Gamble & Huff hits were made.There was also session guitar player Carlos Alomar licking it up on hits such as the title track and his co-written classic “Fame” — Bowie’s first No.

A.D. Amorosi When Carlos Alomar talks about the 50th anniversary of “Young Americans” — David Bowie’s self-defined ode to “plastic soul,” released March 7, 1975, and re-released today by Rhino/Parlophone — it’s done with love and respect. Make that self-respect, too, because the guitarist knows exactly who he was to Bowie: the musician who helped the glam-rock god get on the good foot.

Addie Morfoot Contributor During a recent appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Will Ferrell playfully told Oscar documentary branch voters to “suck it” for snubbing “Will & Harper” in the best doc feature race. Although Ferrell was joking, he voiced a sentiment held by a number of doc branch members.

EXCLUSIVE: Esteemed documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter is set to make her narrative feature debut with NOBODY: The Bert Williams Story, a biopic of the vaudeville performer of the same name.

Albums and songs by Cat Stevens, Luther Vandross, Jay-Z and Emmylou Harris are among the 13 new additions to the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Recording Academy announced today.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Details follow for Season 13, Episode 1 of “The Masked Singer,” “Lucky Season 13,” which aired February 12 on Fox. Cedric the Entertainer got that name for a reason: He’s more than a comedian and actor. In college, Cedric was in singing groups, crooning harmonies with others. “And when I started to perform, I would sing a lot in my shows, adding these characters and jokes with a lot of vocalization to them,” he told Variety. And even now, in his Las Vegas show with Toni Braxton, Cedric mostly does standup but does bust out a Nat King Cole number.

David Bowie‘s ninth album ‘Young Americans’ has been announced. Find all the details below.The special edition of the record is due to arrive via Parlophone on March 7 – the same day the original collection was released back in 1975.

Alfa Anderson, the iconic female lead of the legendary disco band Chic, has sadly passed away. Nile Rogers, co-founder of Chic, took to Instagram to share his heartbreak, posting a touching video tribute filled with throwback snaps of Alfa and the group, captioned with "#soul #memories #wearefamily". In the tribute post, Nile wrote: "Thank you for everything," accompanied by red heart, prayer hands, music notes, and microphone emojis.

Chic‘s biggest hits, has died aged 78.Her bandmate Nile Rodgers confirmed the news on Tuesday (December 17) via Instagram. No cause of death has been given.Alongside a montage of photos of him, Anderson and the rest of the band, soundtracked by ‘At Last I Am Free’ – one of Anderson’s solo tracks their 1978 album ‘C’est Chic’ – Rogers wrote: “Thank you for everything”.

Will & Harper, the Netflix documentary about comedic actor Will Ferrell and his friendship with SNL pal Harper Steele who came out as trans, earned a spot on the coveted Oscar documentary feature shortlist today.

CNN will debut Luther: Never Too Much, Dawn Porter’s documentary about the life of Luther Vandross, on New Year’s Day.

For generations, people have come to Hot Springs, Arkansas to enjoy its thermal springs and elegant bathhouses. But around this time of year, they’re drawn to the historic spa town for another attraction – the longest running documentary film festival in North America.

Documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter, whose acclaimed body of work includes John Lewis: Good Trouble, Trapped, The Lady Bird Diaries, and Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court, will be honored with the Career Achievement Award at the upcoming IDA Documentary Awards in Los Angeles.

EXCLUSIVE: Dawn Porter is producing a short film to be shown at next week’s Democratic National Convention, helmed by her production company, Trilogy Films, according to sources.

Angelique Jackson The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) has set its lineup of narrative and documentary features for its 28th edition, including Jussie Smollett’s return to acting in “The Lost Holliday,” filmmaker Christine Swanson’s latest drama “Albany Road” and the acclaimed Luther Vandross doc “Never Too Much.” This year’s festival takes place June 12-16 in Miami Beach, Fla., followed by a virtual segment June 17-24 on ABFF PLAY. Winners of film festival competition will be announced on June 15, during the “Best of ABFF Awards” hosted by Emmy-nominee Dondré Whitfield.

Storied docs producer Dawn Porter has said private funding in the documentary space could help plug financial gaps that have opened up in today’s challenging market.

Addie Morfoot Contributor MipDoc keynote speaker Dawn Porter is coming to Cannes to discuss not only the challenging doc marketplace, but also how to work and prosper within it. In the last few years the doc industry has favored a handful of big-name filmmakers, like Porter, who are commissioned to make one-off films or docuseries. Over the last 12 months two of Porter’s docus were released: “Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court” which was financed and distributed by Showtime and “The Lady Bird Diaries,” which was financed and distributed by Hulu/ABC News.

Madonna is making a correction to one part of her tour!

Madonna has removed an image of Luther Vandross from the AIDS tribute section of her ongoing ‘Celebration’ tour.The moment came during a recent show as part of her world tour, which includes a section paying tribute to those who have died of AIDS-related illnesses. For the segment, pictures of famous faces such as Herb Ritts, Freddie Mercury and artist Keith Haring are shown, as the singer performs her 1986 song ‘Live To Tell’.However, during her show in Sacramento on Saturday (February 24), a photograph of Luther Vandross was also included in the tribute, despite his cause of death not being related to AIDS.In response, the estate of the late singer – who was famed for tracks including ‘Never Too Much’ and ‘Endless Love’ – have reached out to the pop star and requested to have his image taken down from the tribute.“Luther Vandross passed away in 2005 due to complications from a stroke suffered two years earlier,” a spokesperson from Luther’s estate told Page Six.

Whitney Houston.Every time I hear someone on “American Idol” or “The Voice” attempt the impossible by singing one of her songs.Every time I hear “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” in a bar or club and watch generations of women and men — both gay and straight — shimmy and sing at the top of their lungs.And every Grammys since I was there in Los Angeles that weekend when she shockingly passed — at age 48 — the day before music’s biggest night on Feb. 11, 2012.But perhaps I miss Houston the most every single time that someone steps up to the mic to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl.