I'm really broken-hearted about his death. In spite of his serious condition, I really believed he was gonna make a comeback. His body just let him down.

There's really nothing more to say except Rest In Peace, Luther. Now you won't have to struggle anymore. Thank you for blessing us with your talent here on Earth even though it was for such a short time. Now God has another beautiful Angel in his Heaven. And in return, may God provide strength to your family and friends to help them through this difficult time. We will all miss you, but will be comforted in knowing that you will be watching over us and by listening to the music that you left behind to fill our hearts with love. Thank you, once again.

Anxiety said:

Very sad, indeed. Luther's voice was like no other's. Ruben Studdard can match his tone, but not his talent. He was a great composer and producer as well. As vainandy said, he was so much more than a balladeer (though his ballads alone were enough to solidify his place in music history). He did a lot of great uptempo numbers, and made good music with other people. While he is gone, he's left a substantial catalogue of music behind to remind us all why he was here on Earth; his soul was his own, but his music was a gift to the world.

Time for a look at Luther's incredible solo history across various Billboard charts.

Black Singles/Hot R&B Hip-Hop

#01 Never Too Much
#03 Bad Boy/ Having A Party
#10 Don't You Know That
#04 If This World Were Mine
#72 Sugar And Spice
#07 How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
#72 Promise Me
#09 I'll Let You Slide
#17 Since I Lost My Baby
#11 Wait For Love
#01 Stop To Love
#04 Til My Baby Comes Home
#04 It's Over Now
#03 Give Me The Reason
#59 If Only For One Night
#06 I Really Didn't Mean It
#01 There's Nothing Better Than Love
#94 So Amazing
#01 Any Love
#03 She Won't Talk To Me
#01 Here And Now
#03 For You To Love
#05 Treat You Right
#01 Power Of Love/ Love Power
#04 Don't Want To Be A Fool
#06 The Rush
#09 Sometimes It's Only Love
#01 The Best Things In Life Are Free
#10 Little Miracles
#31 Never Let Me Go
#24 Heaven Knows
#07 Endless Love
#16 Always And Forever
#28 Going In Circles
#15 I Can Make It Better
#05 Your Secret Love
#07 Take You Out
#63 Can Heaven Wait
#40 I'd Rather
#28 Dance With My Father
#29 Think About You
#62 The Closer I Get To You


Pop Singles/ Hot 100

#33 Never Too Much
#55 Bad Boy/ Having A Party
#27 How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
#87 Superstar/ Until You Come Back To Me
#29 Til My Baby Comes Home
#57 Give Me The Reason
#15 Stop To Love
#50 There's Nothing Better Than Love
#44 Any Love
#30 She Won't Talk To Me
#06 Here And Now
#04 Power Of Love/ Love Power
#09 Don't Want To Be A Fool
#73 The Rush
#10 The Best Things In Life Are Free
#62 Little Miracles
#94 Heaven Knows
#02 Endless Love
#58 Always And Forever
#95 Love The One You're With
#52 Your Secret Love
#80 I Can Make It Better
#26 Take You Out
#83 I'd Rather
#38 Dance With My Father

Adult Contemporary

#04 How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
#07 Stop To Love
#20 There's Nothing Better Than Love
#12 Any Love
#17 She Won't Talk To Me
#03 Here And Now
#03 Power Of Love/ Love Power
#05 Don't Want To Be A Fool
#09 Sometimes It's Only Love
#30 Little Miracles
#11 Endless Love
#25 Always And Forever
#17 I'd Rather
#04 Dance With My Father
#13 Buy Me A Rose

Well, I am late as usual learning the news.
I found out last night at work.

Another great true musician/singer has passed. I feel ill thinking of those fools who think they will be the "next Luther". That man did things to me, without laying a finger on me in concert. His voice could send bigger chills down your spine than any lover could.

I am going to miss waiting for the new LP of "Lutha". But as a member of the medical community, I am relieved that he is finally set free. These past 2 years in his broken and injured body must have been like a prison for his mind, heart and spirit. To not be able to sing....
Okay now I have made myself cry too.

Words can't describe how sad I am from this news. One of my earliest memories is hearing Never Too Much on the radio of my Grandfather's car when I was 3 or 4. My mom had the album and I discovered scratching and I use that album to scratch on my record player along with Thriller and other albums. I'm shocked Mom didn't beat my butt unless I totally forgot it. He's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and this is the first time one of my favorite singers has passed and I still can't believe it. I was thinking about him recently and hoping he was doing alright. My prayers go out to his family, they been through a lot throughout the years and I hope God continues to sustain them. He will be sooooo missed. R.I.P. Luther, I will miss you.

mltijchr said:

Thanks for sharing that, I've started weeping as I've kept on reading all these post. I'm can't believe he's gone. And someone brought up Barry White, and Rick James, do we realize this it the 3rd year in a row someone big like that has died? I'm freaked to think what'll happen in 2006 let alone the rest of this year. Like I said before, God bless Luther's famliy and I thank God that Luther was able to share his music with us for the time that we had him.

SquirrelMeat said:

-----
Your making fun of Luther's death and your surprised you were called a name.

Jesus !!! When are we going to be rid of the negativity on this board.

"Adore" was inspired by Luther music

This is beyond terrible news. I just heard part of "All My Love" on the radio today and thought about him. I've also been hearing some of his stuff from "Dance With My Father" on the radio here and there. This is terrible news for music lovers but worse for his poor mother. She lost all of her children and I remember hearing her say not long after his stroke that she would not loss him as well.

psychodelicide said:

I have NEVER cried over a celebrity and never thought I would, but I cried yesterday when I heard Luther died. At first I didn't believe it when a friend told me, but then I turned on the radio to be sure. Damn, damn, damn!!!
I still can't believe it. I will miss him making beautiful, music, but I will continually listen to the beautiful music that we were all priveleged with.
R.I.P. You'll be sorely missed.
P.S. I'm jealous of those angels.

1sexymf said:

I hear ya, I cried too when I heard of Luther's passing, and again when I read the sweet things that people are saying about him on this thread. Luther was very much loved, and will DEFINITELY be missed.

My sis was the first to tell me & I nearly lost my breath. It's just so, so sad. His voice was velvet, man. He will truly be missed

Hey y'all I just found out BET is supposed to be reairing a special on Luther tonight at 7:30pm. It's great to see all the love for this great and talented man. Let's continue to spread the love.
[Edited 7/2/05 14:16pm]

jsoul99 said:

I think it's suspicious that the cause of death is not being released. However, the word pneumonia has been mentioned as a complication, eventually leading to his untimely demise. I'm not saying it's true, but a well respected individual would more likely be characterized as one who passed away due to stroke related illnesses as opposed to HIV!

jsoul99 said:

It would be not unusual at all to die of complications of pneumonia acquired due to inactivity secondary to paralysis resulting from a CVA.

Luther was not sickly, in and out of hospitals for pneumonia, cancer or skin conditions the way HIV/AIDS patient are affected.
He became sickly after his stroke.

Please leave it alone.

Luther! I ain't gonna say that I was his biggest fan, but I would kill to have such a great voice as he did. He will be missed.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I'm sad too. but he's in a better place,Hands. We must try to remember that and move on.

jsoul99 said:

I'm sorry but I'm more focused on a great singer being lost than WHY he passed away He'd been ill for a while but whatever the reason it'll all come out in the wash. Chill out on all that...

laurarichardson said:

No, I never made fun of it. Like I said, I'm a fan, I just express a view more harshly than you.

It seems if my view or choice of words does not fit the American dream, then its an insult or disrespect.

Get a life. In my corner of the woods, every second word in "cunt". Are we all shit for having a view now?

I am very sorry for the passing of a musical legend. I don't know how much love the man ever actually personally experienced---his lovelife was a well-guarded mystery that pretty much seemed to have Luther living with one hand tied behind his back his whole life. But he sounded like he understood everything about love; there is a Luther song out there that fits every conceivable love situation. I hope he was able to find hapiness in his life and, whether or not he was happy with himself (his yo-yo dieting suggested some serious self-image problems)I hope he realized he made a lot of people truly happy with his music.

Irreplacible.

I was thinking about it and Luther really did three things really well.

Soulful ballads. A given that made up the bulk of his material. Very lush ballads with his warm beautiful voice singing of love. This is what he was known for and songs like "Here and Now" are really his signatures.

Covers... But did he ever do a cover? No, he did reinterpurtations of songs. "Superstar" is most notably, creating a passionate soul number out of the poppy almost upbeat number. How about "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Love The One You're With"

Upbeat songs. He made a real dent on the charts with "Stop To Love" and "Never Too Much" but for some reason, these upbeat numbers seemed all too rare. Vandross uptempo songs felt very pop but and he could have easily become a dance pop artist but he stuck with the soul. That being said, his upbeat songs were great and you could tell he made fun doing them!

And I'm not even giving enough credit to songs which could be considered midtempo like "Take You Out"...Nearly every song I've heard from him I've enjoyed.
[Edited 7/2/05 22:40pm]

CalhounSq said:

Some of U need 2 get off of your high horse! When I heard Luther had died, I can't lie the same question ran through my head(no disrespect) to Luther. Just human nature to question things.....every 3 seconds someone dies in Africa! But, poeple die all over the world every second, every minute, every hour! If your gonna get all bent out of shape over a celebrity, why not over the average jane or joe? R we less important because we are not admired by the masses? Luther would'nt be Luther without people like jsoul99 who bought his music.
[Edited 7/2/05 23:28pm]

JeriCurl said:

Jericurl, you said it all ...

I agree that his uptempo songs like "Stop To Love" sound very poppish, (as most stuff by all artists of the late 1980s) but you should check out some of his earlier uptempo jams like "She's A Super Lady". The bass line on that song is pure funk. "She Loves Me Back" is another great one. His work with Change is undeniably funk.

vainandy said:

Indeed Vain Baby, Lurther stuff with Change was some funky shit.

JeriCurl said:

This ain't about a high horse mutha mutha Some of us just want to remember his gift instead of litering the thread w/ speculation about AIDS. There's plenty of time for that shit - does it have to be TODAY?? The minute he passes? That's all I'm sayin' man...