Charles Anthony Vandross, Luther Vandross’ Brother

Charles Anthony Vandross

Charles Anthony Vandross is the brother of Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. also known as Luther Vandross. Not many details are available on Charles’ early life, educational background, career, and other information however, some sources have it that Charles was born on 7 Feb 1947 in Manhattan, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA, and died on 30 Apr 1991 at aged 44.

Charles Anthony Vandross: Profile Summary

NameCharles Anthony Vandross
GenderMale
Famous asLuther Vandross’s brother
ParentsMary Ida Vandross, Luther Vandross, Sr.
SiblingsPatricia Marie Vandross Joyner, Ann D. Vandross Sanders, Luther Vandross

Charles Anthony Vandross was born to parents Luther Vandross, Sr., and Mary Ida Shields Vandross. His father was an upholsterer and singer who died of diabetes while his mother was a nurse. His mother, Mary Ida Vandross also died in 2008. Charles’s siblings are Ann D. Vandross Sanders, Luther Vandross, and Patricia Marie Vandross Joyner a singer with the vocal group The Crests and a feature on the songs “My Juanita” and “Sweetest One.

Charles Vandross’ brother, Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. was born on April 20, 1951, at Bellevue Hospital, in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City but was raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the NYCHA Alfred E. Smith Houses public housing development. He attended William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx and attended Western Michigan University.

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Luther Vandross is mostly noted for his sweet and soulful vocals and his work as a solo recording artist who was also an in-demand background vocalist throughout his career for artists such as Todd Rundgren, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Ben E. King, Stevie Wonder, and Donna Summer. He was a lead singer of the group Change, which released its Gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner/RFC Records.

He was commonly referred to as “The Velvet Voice” and was sometimes called “The Best Voice of a Generation”. He was also regarded as the “Pavarotti of Pop” by many critics.

Charles’ brother, was the founder and president of the first Patti LaBelle fan club and was a performer in a group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater as well as appeared many at Apollo’s famous amateur night during his initial years in show business.

He was part of the singles “Only Love Can Make a Better World” and “Listen to My Brother” while he was a member of a theater workshop, Listen to My Brother, and appeared with the group in the pilot episode and other episodes of the first season of Sesame Street during 1969–1970.

Luther Vandross was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981. He has several hit songs including “Never Too Much”, “Here and Now”, “Any Love”, “Power of Love/Love Power”, “I Can Make It Better” and “For You to Love”.

In his career he also had hit songs, duets such as “The Closer I Get to You” with Beyoncé, “Endless Love” with Mariah Carey, and “The Best Things in Life Are Free” with Janet Jackson. His songs were mostly covers of original music by different artists like “If This World Were Mine” (duet with Cheryl Lynn), “Since I Lost My Baby”, “Superstar”, “I (Who Have Nothing)” and “Always and Forever”.

Charles Vandross’ brother, sold over 40 million records worldwide during his career and has eleven consecutive Platinum albums a record achieved by an R&B artist at the time. He also got eight Grammy Awards which includes Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times.

Luther Vandross won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, “Dance with My Father”.He made his final public appearance was on May 6, 2004, on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

However, there is no information about Charles’ brother getting married or having any children. He was never married and had no kids. He never came out as gay or bisexual either.

Charles’ brother filed a libel suit in December 1985 against a British magazine after it attributed his 85-pound weight loss to AIDS.

He was suffering from diabetes and hypertension and had a serious stroke at his home in New York City as the stroke affected his ability to speak and sing, requiring him to use a wheelchair. He also went in coma for nearly two months

Sadly, Luther Vandross passed away on July 1, 2005, at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. He died at age 54 from a heart attack and was buried at Riverside Church in New York City on July 8, 2005. He was entombed at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

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