Awesome Fat Guy of the Week.

Not one damn fish. Oh well. I enjoyed the break but now it's time to get back to doing what I love. Talking about fat guys. Awesome Fat Guys. The Awesome Fat Guy of the Week to be exact. This week we are looking at another romantic fat guy. Luther Vandross.

Luther in his fat and skinny years.

Luther Ronzoni Vandross was born on April 20, 1951 in Manhattan, New York City. He was the fourth child and second boy to Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross, Sr. He spent the first years of his life in NYCHA Alfred E. Smith Houses Public Housing Development. He moved to the Bronx at the age of thirteen.

Luther Vandross rocking a pink shirt on Sesame Street.

He began playing the piano when he was only three. He grew up in a musical family. His sister was a part of the "The Crests" a vocal group that had some success. Albeit without her. In high school he was a part of the group Shades of Jade. They performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He was also a part of the theater workshop, "Listen My Brother". Vandross appeared twice on Sesame Street in 1969.

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Vandross spent a year at Western Michigan University. He dropped out to pursue his music career. At the beginning of his career he was known as a talented studio singer and song writer. His first major credit was on Roberta Flack's 1972 album, "Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway". He followed that up by writing the song "Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me" for Delores Hall. Not content with just writing the song he also sang it with her. His career as a song writer stretched far and wide. He wrote "Fascination" for David Bowie, and "Everybody Rejoice" for the musical "The Wiz". He appeared in the movie version as a choir member.

Before going solo he was known as a back up singer. He sang backing vocals for Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Gary Glitter, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Chic, and even Barbara Streisand.

Much like Barry White, Luther is working his ass off to get you laid.

In between his time as a back up singer and his solo success he was part of a group called Luther. The group consisted of former Shades of Jade members. They never made the charts.

Luther would go on to sing lead vocals for a disco band called Greg Diamond's Bionic Boogie on the song "Hot Butterfly". He also sang for the band Soiree, Mascara LP, and Charme.

His first major breakthrough came as a featured singer with the band Change. He sang all three of the group's 1980's hits. He wold not stay long however. He left do to money issues. He felt that Jacques Fred Petrus, the man who created the band, was not paying him enough. Even with that he still worked for him in the coming years.

It wasn't long after this that Luther began to release his solo works. He continued to work as a session singer but was becoming more successful on his own. In 1986 he had two #1 singles on the Billboard R&B charts. The first was "Stop to Love" it was followed by  "There's nothing Better Than Love" which was a duet with Gregory Hines. Vandross also moved into producing at this time. He was behind Aretha Franklin's comeback album "Jump To It" and it's less successful follow up "Get It Right".

Vandross continued his success into the 1990's. In 1991 he released "Power of Love" which spawned two top ten hits. He also won his second Best Male R&B Vocal at the 1992 Grammy Awards. That same year saw Vandross duet with Janet Jackson on the song "The Best Things in Life Are Free". The song, which was from the movie "Mo' Money", went on to be a hit.

In 1994 Vandross would duet with Mariah Carey on the song "Endless Love". It was included on the album "Songs" which was a collection of songs that had inspired Luther over the years.  He won his third Best Male R&B Vocal in 1997. It was for the song "Your Secret Love". That same year saw Luther singing the Nation Anthem at Super Bowl XXXI.

Luther's success continued through the 90's and into the early 2000's. It was in 2004 that he had his greatest success. He won the Grammy for Song of the Year for "Dance With My Father". The song, an ode to his father who died when Vandross was only 8 years old, would go on to be Luther's only #1 record. The album was also his most successful selling almost 3 million copies.

The coolest picture of Luther I could find.

It was also the last album he worked on before his death. After suffering a stroke on April 16, 2003 Luther would retire from public life. Two years later Luther Vandross was dead. He died on July 1, 2005 of a heart attack.

He left most of his estate to his friends and godson. In 2008 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #54 on their List of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. At the end of his career Luther had amassed eight Grammy Awards, sold 25 million albums, and worked with some of the greatest singers of all time.  He was an amazing man. An Amazing Fat Guy.

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