In a resurfaced interview clip, David Bowie was credited by Luther Vandross with giving him his breakthrough.
David Bowie was credited by Luther Vandross with giving him his breakthrough.
Describing how a chance encounter in a recording studio led to the start of his career, Luther, who died aged 54, reflected on his early years in the music industry during an appearance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show in the late 1990s, which has just resurfaced as it has been shared by his official TikTok account.
Speaking to Rosie, Luther recounted how he was discovered while visiting guitarist Carlos Alomar during sessions for David’s Young Americans album in 1974.
He said: “Yeah, accidentally, (David) discovered me singing in a studio with him. I was on the couch – I was visiting the guitar player who I had gone to school with, Carlos Alomar, and I was on the couch singing, and David overheard me and said, ‘Oh, that sounds great, put it on the record’.”
Luther said the encounter led to further opportunities, including being introduced to Bette Midler.
He described his time connected to her group of backing singers, known as the Harlettes, and recalled feeling overlooked when his contribution was not publicly recognised.
He added: “She went through the list, she went through Katey Sagal, she went through the whole – everyone who was a Harlette, and I’m like ‘Okay, come on, come on’… – and she never mentioned the fact that I was always the fourth Harlette.”
Rosie responded by recalling seeing Bette perform without noticing Luther on stage.
Luther explained his absence from view during performances.
He said: “You never saw me because I was really shy and I used to stand behind a curtain with a microphone and a monitor and a music stand. For all those years, I was the fourth Harlette.”
The Harlettes featured a number of performers over the years, including Paulette McWilliams, Jenifer Lewis, Sharon Redd, Linda Hart, Melissa Manchester, Charlotte Crossley and Jocelyn Brown.
Luther went on to achieve huge success as a solo artist, with songs including Never Too Much, following the early break he attributed to David, who died in 2016 aged 69 from liver cancer.
He is hailed as a Grammy-winning soul icon whose smooth vocals and songwriting shaped R and B, achieving global success with timeless hits.
David Bowie credited by Luther Vandross with giving him his breakthrough
