Luther

The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross

On July 1, 2005, the world lost one of the greatest R&B vocalists of all time, Luther Vandross. He left a legacy of some of the most enduring love songs of our age: “Here and Now”, “Superstar”, “If Only for One Night”, and “A House Is Not a Home”. The notoriously secretive star also left behind many questions such as the real-life inspiration behind all of those yearning love songs.

The newly updated and expanded edition of Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross takes you deep inside the singer’s private world. It chronicles his underdog journey from the projects of New York City’s Lower East Side to the top of the charts, selling more than 20 million albums along the way. The audiobook details Luther’s triumphs, as well as his struggles: his battle with weight; his feuds with Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, and En Vogue; the 1986 car accident that killed his best friend and nearly destroyed his career; and the rumors about his sexuality that followed him throughout his life.

The audiobook offers specific new details about Luther’s love life that will help illuminate the private pain of the man who brought the world so much joy.

"Seymour's brilliant book is like a great Luther song: elegantly written, effortlessly executed and eloquently delivered." - Michael Eric Dyson

"Craig Seymour paints an intimate portrait of the man behind some of the most beautiful love songs of our time...Full of juicy anecdotes, fast-paced writing, and interesting analysis, the book reveals surprising new dimensions of this much-beloved balladeer." - E. Lynn Harris

"...[A] sympathetic look at the most popular soul singer of his generation." - New York Daily News

©2018 Craig Seymour (P)2018 Craig Seymour

Touching

This book gave an interesting look inside Luther Vandross life! Some people think they know but really don't, may he rest in peace.

A great story.

I generally don't write reviews but this was an excellent listen. I didn't realize how much Mr. Vandross struggled with himself as well as the music industry. He struggled so much to be acknowledged by the industry and the world. I don't know if I could have continued despite the constant rejection after rejection (I stopped counting at some point). What I realize in this listen is that we need to take better care of our emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being as we work in purpose. Despite all the successes Mr. Vandross didn't have all the tools in place to overcome the stresses and struggles of his life. Thankful for the insight into the Ambassador of Love.

Will We Ever Know The Reak Luther

Luther was an extraordinary talent of which I was unaware. So much more than a wonderful singer of love songs. As much as he seemed to understand love it is such a shame he never found it in his life.

There much information here about his talent but the author only scratched the surface of who was the real Luther. That said, you still walk away knowing a little more about Luther than what you saw on TV or read in magazine articles.

Struggled with the narrator. His voice was not right for this particular subject and he was cringe worthy when he sang-spoke lyrics. Sometimes his pronunciations and inflections were off.

Sad story if a very gifted man

If you are a Luther fan by all means this is worth the purchase it does shed some light on his struggles with his sexuality and his underlying struggles with his religion as it relates to his sexuality how sad for such a man with such talent to never have the courage to come out and be who he was in spite of his sexuality what a sad commentary for the world at that time

SO AMAZING

Spoiler alert…that is the last two words of the book ànd aptly so.

Wow wow wow wow wow. I have always loved Luther as an artist ànd musician and while I never let myself get caught up in the rumors or gossip over his private life (that’s why it’s called private BTW) I never knew that he did not receive the awards he longed for and in my opinion deserved. In fact I was a bit stunned that he had not received more Grammy’s.

But that just goes to show, there is nothing new under the Sun when it comes to the music industry. If it can’t be about thé voice, then why even bother?

Thank you for this wonderful memoir of an artist who wrote the soundtrack to my youth. Luther will live in my heart Always and Forever.