LUTHER VANDROSS STROKE UPDATE: Singer recovering in New York hospital.


Luther Vandross
(Apr. 18, 2003) *The latest reports say that R&B crooner and multi Grammy winner Luther Vandross is recovering from a stroke he suffered this past Wednesday. However, a statement from the singer's management said it wasn't clear whether his motor skills have been impaired.
Lois Najarian, a spokeswoman at Vandross' label, J Records, confirmed to the Associated Press that the singer was hospitalized in New York, but said she had received no further information.

"We're all very optimistic at this point," Najarian said. She also told the AP that Vandross, who will turn 52 this Sunday, had been in good health and recently completed work on a new album.

A visit to Vandross' website (www.luthervandross.com) revealed that the new CD, Dance With My Father, is scheduled for a June 10 release. At this point it's not known if that will change. Curiously, there was no mention of the singer's current crisis or how fans could send well wishes.

As we all know, Vandross has long battled weight problems, which he's freely talked about over the years. At one point, he weighed more than 330 pounds. According to Vandross, he's a yo-yo dieter, gaining and losing 120 pounds 14 separate times in his life.

"I don't function in the gray area well," he told HealthTalk, a website. "I'm a black-and-white person. I'm either thin-thin, or I'm WWF heavy."

In an interview with EUR several years ago at the NAACP Image Awards, Vandross said that his excess weight had led to diabetes and hypertension, but he had been able to keep his weight down for several years through diet and exercise.

"As a celebrity, rumors start," Vandross told the HealthTalk website in 2001. "There were rumors that I'd died. There were rumors that I had AIDS, all because of the weight loss."

However, as has been his pattern, he'd recently regained the weight.

yay, lutha!!!

Thanks for the update.

Thanks for the news. I hope he come's back better than ever.

I hope he fully recovers. Lufa' is the man.