It’s a Luther Vandross weekend! We’re remembering the music of the man who will always be our SUPERSTAR. Today, Luther would have been 62 years old and we’re opening up his musical library and playing all of your favorite songs.
A classic Luther song is Dance with My Father and here are some little known facts about the song:
- With help from Richard Marx, Luther Vandross wrote “Dance with My Father” shortly after he suffered a stroke that eventually killed him two years later. The song is a tribute to his late father and very poignant as it was one of Luther’s last songs. His father died when he was young and Luther’s most fond memory of his dad was him dancing in the house with the kids – hence the song.
- Marx and Vandross had collaborated in the past: Luther sang backup on Marx’ 1991 hit “Keep Coming Back,” and the pair wrote “Isn’t There Someone” for Luther’s 1998 album I Know. One of the reasons Vandross asked Marx to work on this song was because Richard lost his father in 1997 and could understand the feeling he was trying to convey.
- The song won Grammy awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Song Of The Year and the album also won for Best R&B Album. At the awards ceremony in 2004, Marx felt bittersweet accepting the Song Of The Year award, as Vandross couldn’t be there because of his illness.
- This song has appeared on several tributes to Vandross, including “So Amazing” recorded shortly after Vandross’ death. Celine Dion recorded it for the album because she had also lost her father.
- This returned to the UK Top 40 in 2009 after a performance by Joseph McElderry in the televised auditions for the sixth series of the music talent show The X Factor.
