Luther Vandross 1995: A Rare Sit-Down From the Songs Era | Dini Petty

Luther Vandross arrived on The Dini Petty Show in January 1995 to talk about Songs, the all-covers album that produced the biggest pop hit of his career, the Endless Love duet with Mariah Carey. But the story he tells here is the one from before the fame. He was a background singer for Roberta Flack, and one afternoon, testing her microphone in an empty theater, he sang into the dark, not knowing she was sitting out there listening. She told him to stop singing behind other people and go build his own career. He did, and a decade later he was the balladeer couples chose for their weddings and the singer other artists lined up to record with. Luther Vandross was silenced by a stroke in 2003 and died in 2005 at fifty-four. Footage of him this relaxed, this healthy, telling his own story in full, is rare. CHAPTERS 0:00 Songs, an album of his favorites 0:44 Playing piano since he was three 7:42 Singing backup for Roberta Flack 8:16 The day she told him to go solo 9:09 Signing with Epic, 1980 9:26 "How thin I look" 11:27 The duet he wants with Whitney Houston 11:40 "Here and Now," the wedding song of 1990 14:29 An audience member makes her case 16:18 Never took a voice lesson ABOUT THE DINI PETTY SHOW The Dini Petty Show was a Canadian daytime talk show that aired on CTV from 1989 to 1999. Broadcast from Toronto, the show featured a decade of in-depth interviews with Hollywood legends, music icons, politicians, and cultural figures. Dini Petty's warm yet probing interview style earned the show multiple Gemini Award nominations and a loyal audience across Canada. This channel is the official archive of The Dini Petty Show. Most of these interviews have not been seen since their original broadcast. New conversations from the vault are uploaded weekly. Subscribe to never miss a piece of television history. #LutherVandross #EndlessLove #MariahCarey #RnB #SoulMusic #90sMusic #DiniPetty #RareInterview #ClassicSoul