jaimestarr79 said:

What in the???

jaimestarr79 said:

My all time favourite Luther song is "The Sweetest one".

SoulAlive said:

Luther was never a "sex symbol" and most thought he was gay anyway.

He was a balladeer....he was loved because of his voice and the love songs....not because he was hot and sexy or anything.


Even if some didn't care for his music....the mans voice was like butta.....

Rhondab said:

So,you don't think that his "coming out" would have affected his career? I wish that had been the case,but I think it would have hurt his career tremendously.


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[Edited 7/19/07 4:07am]

jaimestarr79 said:

and freddie jackson is just poor...


give me a break.....


I dont even get the same vibe from these two other than being balladeers....


and Soul...I think people would have just said...."yeah...thought so...ok...when is the next cd droppin'"

Hopefully anyway...you never really know.

Rhondab said:

I can't remember the program but a few years back, I was watching a show and they were talking about out gay men (perhaps black men) in the music bizz. They were talking to Patti LaBelle, and she said, "Well, there is just one that I know of." Then she smiled and winked. "Oh, wait. He's not out. Nevermind."

RipHer2Shreds said:

Freddie is so gay sugar drips off his ass..

This thread makes me think back when I was real young...the family had this lil' get together, and one of Luther's tracks started playin...and my cousin went on this big drunken tirade about how he can never support a gay man's music; somethin to the effect of, "When I'm makin love to my wife, I don't wanna hear Luther or Teddy Pendergrass in the background singing about his love for me."

DadeCounty305 said:

Rhondab....see what I mean?

This thread is outta control!

In all honesty, I don't really dig Luther's music that much. The production is too smooth and to me, a lot of the more popular stuff of his seems like a precursor to cats like Usher.

Love his voice, just don't like most of what he does with it.

SoulAlive said:

ok...you win


oh brother....

Luther and Freddie!

Just think if these two would of recorded a love ballad together. They could of sang it to each other in the video. That way they would of been keep it real. I'm sure it would of been a huge hit. I guess it is a possibility that they could of dated each other in the past.
[Edited 7/19/07 9:13am]

jaimestarr79 said:

Luther - Excuse me, can I please talk to you for a minute?
Freddie - Uh huh, sure. You know, you look kinda familiar.
Luther - Yeah, you do, too, but I just wanted to know do you know somebody named...? Oh, you know his name.
Freddie - Oh yeah, I definitely know his name.
Luther - Well, I just want to let you that he's mine.
Freddie - No, no, he's mine!

You need to give it up
Had about enough
It's not hard to see
The boy is mine


[Edited 7/19/07 9:19am]

Gay people have always had to keep a lid on it, if they wanted big success in the business. Don't think it's just Luther and GM either. Michael Jackson, Craig David, Robbie Williams. On the female front you've got Alicia and Missy too. That's just the way it goes.

midnightmover said:

Craig david is gay

jaimestarr79 said:

Okay, that is pure bullshit. Luther had one of the best falsettos I've ever heard but he rarely used it. You would have had to see him live to hear it. I never heard Freddy go beyound a couple of octaves. He had a strong voice but his range wasn't all that. Also, Freddie had no grace whatsoever to his style. His singing was agressive whenever he would project. Its like comparing Prince's falsetto to Maxwell's or Howard Hewitt's. Luffa, Max & How glide up and down scales while Prince and Freddie used to go into scream mode when projecting.

Oh no they wouldn't. Just look at the things that people say about Prince, especially when you're comparing him to another artist. The first thing people say is....."well at least (insert artist's name here) isn't a faggot".

I used to hear that a lot when an ex co-worker of mine had the nerve to think that Borepac Shakur was as talented as Prince.

vainandy said:

i've personally never heard anyone dog Luther for his "sexuality"....just my own experience.

Rhondab said:

As dumb as it all is, I really do think Luther would have experienced a backlash in the Black community had he come out. It's easy to forget how closed off & paranoid people can get but I was just reminded of that @ a kid party a few weeks ago - had to listen to a group of moms chattering about how homosexuality is everywhere & "my kids will NOT be making that choice" & blah blah blah These are people I'm fairly close to & I had no idea how bugged out & closed off they were on that topic. & rabid too, I couldn't get a word in

AlexdeParis said:

That's true. Even some of the most seemingly open minded people have an entire different attitude towards homosexuality when it ends up being someone in their own family. Since so many people consider their favorite entertainers as one of their family, they would have the same harsh attitude toward them if they came out of the closet tommorow.
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[Edited 7/19/07 14:27pm]

Since when did being "funky" become the prerequisite for being decent? Anyway, repressed sexuality aside I just found his material dull. Good voice technically speaking and worthy of a one CD hits collection but little more.

sosgemini said:

I have to agree: Luther Vandross' music was not funky in any aspect, and I've read responses on this thread and other threads actually trying to proclaim Vandross' music as "funky." He was a conservative soul artist, in the same vein as mid-1980s acts like Freddie Jackson, Stephanie Mills, Anita Baker, Kashif, Melba Moore and Jeffrey Osborne.

I also agree that for song reason some people on The Org give Vandross a pass, but I imagine that reason is based on the fact that Vandross was largely unnoticed by white audiences in the 1980s.
[Edited 7/19/07 17:22pm]

Najee said:

That can't be it, because Freddie Jackson would qualify for that same pass.

AlexdeParis said:

Not really, because Luther Vandross is generally revered in soul music circles as a standard-bearer. With that status comes certain liberties. As sucessful as Freddie Jackson was in the mid-1980s through early 1990s, he was seen by some unfairly as clone of Vandross.

DadeCounty305 said:

Save that no one thought Teddy Pendergrass was gay during his prime, nor did people think he was feigning his sexuality. In fact, no one is saying that NOW. Teddy Pendergrass was arguably the epitome of the male soul singer sex symbol, with his sexually-charged songs, his church-influenced singing style and rough-hewn looks combined with his famous "For Ladies Only" concerts.

phunkdaddy said:

EnVogue did an in-depth interview after opening for Luther Vandross on his tour, and they trashed him harshly. One member even made some snide comments about his sexuality. Vandross and Freddie Jackson also had reported arguments over the years (some even coming to pushing and shoving backstage).

And there's also the memorable tour with Anita Baker as the opening act that reportedly ended with the pixie-like Baker attacking Vandross and security pulling her off him.
[Edited 7/24/07 19:39pm]

midnightmover said:

So true.This why we're not likely to see any openly gay R&B artists.The moment they "come out",their career is over.