And I knew for sure I was loved

Luther Vandross
April 20, 1951- July 1, 2005

When you think about the most popular male R&B singers of the past two decades, Freddie Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass, and Jeffrey Osborne all come to mind. But at the top of that list for most people is definitely Luther Vandross. Just the other day I was watching Judge Hatchet, and the defendant in the case was a Luther Vandross impersonator. So the judge asked him to sing something for her. He wasn't bad at all. She said, "That was actually very good. And I know my Luther. You know you couldn't come in here half-steppin.' "

Luther was the best at what he did. He sang so passionately about love that it's practically impossible to not feel a little something when you hear his voice. He made women swoon. And once men figured out that Luther put their ladies in the mood, I'm sure hundreds of children were conceived as his songs played in the background. He had an amazing voice, a great heart, and was definitely a huge inspiration to a lot of people. When he had a stroke in 2003, everyone was really shocked because it came out of nowhere, and he was still young. Surely too young to have a stroke. Last year, he was on Oprah, and though his speech was a little slurred and he couldn't move around very well, you just knew that he was going to get better. He really wanted to. And so it's very sad that he's no longer here.