R&B singer Gerald Levert died Nov. 10 presumably of a heart attack. He was 40. Levert, born in Cleveland, was a founding member and the lead singer ofthe 1990's R&B trio LeVert, who scored big hits with "Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop (Goes My Mind)", "Casanova", and "ABC-123." He was also a part of R&B supergroup LSG, composed of platinum selling R&B crooners Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. As a solo artist, Levert gained an immense fan base with a string of R&B ballads ("I'd Give Anything (to Fall in Love)", "You Got That Love") from his numerous album projects on East West/Elektra Records. Over the years, the vocal powerhouse has collaborated with Patti LaBelle, Miki Howard, Kelly Price, Teena Marie, Chris Rock and with his father, Eddie Levert, on many different occasions. "All of us at Atlantic [Records] are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death," said an Atlantic rep via e-mail. "He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer. Above all, he was an exceptional human being whose warmth and grace inspired us all. Gerald has been a member of our family for two decades, and he will be greatly missed by everyone who had the pleasure and privilege of working with him through the years. "This is a tremendous loss for the music community and for his millions of fans. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gerald’s family during this very difficult time.”

To urban contemporary listeners, Freddie Jackson was one of the biggest stars of the latter half of the '80s, dominating the R&B charts seemingly at will. Jackson's forte was sophisticated, romantic soul ballads aimed at adult audiences, but he was also capable of tackling urban contemporary dance fare and even the occasional jazz tune. Yet unlike many of his peers -- Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Peabo Bryson, etc. -- Jackson never managed to cross over to the pop charts, where none of his R&B smashes even breached the Top Ten. As new trends like hip-hop altered the urban contemporary landscape, Jackson gradually faded from view during the '90s. Jackson was born October 2, 1956, in Harlem, and like so many soul stars, he was trained as a gospel singer from an early age, singing at the White Rock Baptist Church. There he met Paul Laurence, who would later become his producer and songwriting partner. After completing school, Jackson joined Laurence's group LJE (Laurence-Jones Ensemble) and played the New York club scene. During the early '80s, Jackson moved to the West Coast and sang lead with the R&B band Mystic Merlin, but soon returned to New York to work with Laurence at the Hush Productions company. He sang on demo recordings of Laurence's compositions, and also served as a backup singer for Melba Moore after she caught his nightclub act. In 1985, Jackson landed a record deal with Capitol and issued his debut album, Rock Me Tonight. The Laurence-penned title track stormed the R&B charts, spending a whopping six weeks at number one, and made Jackson an instant sensation on urban contemporary radio. "You Are My Lady" gave him a second straight R&B chart-topper, and also proved to be his highest-charting single on the pop side, peaking at number 13. With "He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)" and "Love Is Just a Touch Away" also hitting the R&B Top Ten, Rock Me Tonight topped the R&B album charts and went platinum. Jackson wasted no time issuing a follow-up set; Just Like the First Time appeared in 1986 on the heels of a number one R&B duet with Melba Moore, "A Little Bit More" (from her album A Lot of Love). Another platinum seller, Just Like the First Time continued Jackson's incredible dominance of the R&B singles charts; "Tasty Love," "Have You Ever Loved Somebody," and "Jam Tonight" all hit number one, while "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love" went to number two. The pace of Jackson's success slowed to less superhuman levels with the 1988 release of Don't Let Love Slip Away, which nonetheless featured another R&B chart-topper in "Hey Lover," plus further hits in "Nice and Slow" and "Crazy (For Me)." The title track of 1990's Do Me Again duplicated that feat, and "Main Course" just missed, topping out at number two. Even so, Jackson's early placings in the lower reaches of the pop Top 40 had long since disappeared, and some critics charged that his albums were growing too similar to one another. Perhaps it was a lack of distinctiveness in his material that hurt Jackson's chances for a pop breakthrough; whatever the case, 1992's Time for Love failed to duplicate the crossover success Luther Vandross was belatedly enjoying, despite a hit cover of the soul classic "Me and Mrs. Jones." Seeking a new beginning, Jackson parted ways with Capitol in late 1993, and signed with RCA. His label debut, Here It Is, appeared the following year, with diminished commercial returns -- in part because his straightforwardly romantic ballad style was increasingly out of step with the sexually explicit new breed of R&B crooner. Following a Christmas album, Jackson split with RCA and recorded Private Party for the much smaller Street Life imprint in 1995. Several years of silence ensued, until Orpheus issued Life After 30 in late 1999; the equally low-key release Live in Concert followed in 2000. Jackson continues to release records from time to time in a similarly low-key fashion, including an album's worth of soulful covers with 2005's Personal Reflections. Twice as Nice followed in 2006 from Orpheus Records.

With hitmaker Irv Gotti at the helm, Ashanti blasted into the urban music scene in 2002, topping the charts with multiple singles at once. She quickly became a sensation, gracing the covers of magazines and dominating urban radio. Ashanti built her reputation with duets, where she would complement an already popular rapper -- Ja Rule ("Always on Time"), Fat Joe ("What's Luv?"), the Notorious B.I.G. ("Unfoolish") -- contrasting the tough-guy male perspective with her own. It didn't take the young vocalist long to make a name for herself though: her debut album topped the Billboard album chart just as her debut solo single, "Foolish," was topping the Hot 100 chart. Her presence was inescapable. Ashanti's overnight jump to superstardom followed that of Ja Rule, a similar urban music sensation helmed by Gotti. The New York producer took notice of Ashanti initially because of her beauty, dancing, and acting. She trained as a dancer at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, learning a number of dance styles. She danced most notably in Disney's Polly, which starred Phylicia Rashad, and also appeared in a number of big-name music videos, in addition to other dance work. As an actress, she made a name for herself with roles in Spike Lee's Malcolm X and Who's da Man before that. The multi-talented vocalist was causing quite a stir, and Gotti did what he could to bring her into his Murder Inc. fold. After showcasing her swooning voice on Big Pun's "How We Roll" and the Fast and Furious soundtrack -- both in 2001 -- Gotti put Ashanti to work on her debut album, which he produced. Success came quickly. A duet with Ja Rule, "Always on Time," hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in early 2002 just as a duet with Fat Joe, "What's Luv?," was creeping toward the same number one position. These two airplay-heavy singles, of course, set the stage perfectly for Ashanti's self-titled debut release. The album's lead single, "Foolish," raced up the Hot 100 chart, entering the Top Ten in March alongside "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?," giving her three Top Ten songs in the same week, including the number one and two positions -- a quite spectacular feat. And then Ashanti's album debuted at number one on the album chart, selling an astounding 500,000-plus copies in its first week. With all this chart-topping, Ashanti set some sales records and her success continued. Gotti readied a remix of "Foolish," titled "Unfoolish," that featured the Notorious B.I.G. and again overtook urban radio, where no artist was more omnipresent throughout 2002 than Ashanti. She returned the following year with Chapter II, which likewise topped the Billboard album chart on the heels of its hot lead single, "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)." The album's success was somewhat eclipsed, however, by all the negative drama surrounding the Murder Inc. camp at the time (i.e., the FBI investigation and the G-Unit feuding). A Christmas album followed late that year, and Concrete Rose appeared in December 2004. Though she remained with The Inc. for 2007's The Declaration, she sought out a number of producers (including Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and Dr. Dre) outside the label's in-house team.

Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and appearing in cartoon form in various episodes of The Simpsons. During the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a full hour of her daily syndicated Dinah! show to White. While there was a period where Barry White wasn't releasing records or making the pop charts, he did stay active touring and appearing on other artists' records including Quincy Jones' "The Secret Garden (The Seduction Suite)," Regina Belle, and rap star Big Daddy Kane's "All of Me." It's surprising to find out that such an illustrious career almost didn't happen because White wasn't interested in being a recording artist. Born in Galveston, TX, Barry White grew up singing gospel songs with his mother and taught himself to play piano. Shortly after moving from Texas to South Central Los Angeles, White made his recording debut at the tender age of 11, playing piano on Jesse Belvin's "Goodnight My Love." He made his first record when he was 16 with a group called the Upfronts. The song was called "Little Girl" on a local L.A. label called Lummtone Records. Later he worked for various independent labels around Los Angeles, landing an A&R position with Bob Keane, the man responsible for the first pop recordings by Sam Cooke. One of his labels, Mustang, was hot at the time with a group called the Bobby Fuller Four in 1966. White was hired for 40 dollars a week to do A&R for Keane's family of labels: Del-Fi, Mustang and Bronco. During this time, White flirted with the idea of being a recording artist, making a record for Bronco called "All in the Run of a Day." But he chose to stick with his A&R duties. One of the first groups he worked with was the Versatiles who later changed their name to the 5th Dimension. White's first big hit came from an artist familiar to dancefloor denizens -- Viola Wills, whose "Lost Without the Love of My Guy" went Top 20 R&B. His salary went up to 60 dollars a week. White started working with the Bobby Fuller Four. Bob Keene and Larry Nunes -- who later became White's spiritual advisor and true friend -- wanted to cut a female act. White had heard about a singer named Felice Taylor. They had three hit records, "It May Be Winter Outside," "I'm Under the Influence of Love," and "I Feel Love Coming On." They were huge hits in England. White started making 400 dollars a week. When Bronco went out of business, White began doing independent production. Those were some lean times for White. Veteran arranger Gene Page, who would later arrange or co-arrange White's hits, helped him out, giving him work and non-repayable loans. Then three years later, Paul Politti, who also worked at Bronco, contacted him to tell him that Larry Nunes was interested in starting a business with him. Nunes had started cutting tracks for a concept album he was working on. Meanwhile, White had started working with this girl group who hadn't done any singing professionally. They rehearsed for almost a year. White wrote "Walkin' in the Rain (With the One I Love)" with lyrics that were inspired by conversations with one of the singers, Glodean James (who would later become White's second wife). White christened the group Love Unlimited. Larry Nunes took the record to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. Love Unlimited's From a Girl's Point of View became a million-seller. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni in chaos and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White decided he needed to work with another act. He wanted to work with a male artist. He made three song demos of himself singing and playing the piano. Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them as a recording artist. They argued for days about it. Then he somehow convinced White to do it. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but the record became the first Barry White album. That first album was 1973's I've Got So Much to Give on 20th Century Records. It included the title track and "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby." White got a release from Uni for Love Unlimited and they joined him over at 20th Century Records. Then he had a brainstorm for another concept album. He told Regan he wanted to do an instrumental album. Regan thought he had lost it. White wanted to call it the Love Unlimited Orchestra. The single, "Love's Theme," went to number one pop, was a million-seller, and was a smash all over the world. The song earned him a BMI award for over three million covers. For the next five years, from 1974 to 1979, there was no stopping the Barry White Hit Train -- his own Stone Gon, Barry White Sings Love Songs for the One You Love ("It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me," "Playing Your Game Baby"), Let the Music Play (title track, "You See the Trouble with Me"), Just Another Way to Say I Love You ("I'll Do for You Anything You Want Me To," "Love Serenade"), The Man ("Your Sweetness Is My Weakness," "Sha La La Means I Love You," "September When We Met," a splendid cover of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are"), and Love Unlimited's In Heat ("I Belong to You," "Move Me No Mountain," "Share a Little Love in Your Heart," and "Love's Theme," with lyrics). He also scored a soundtrack for the 20th Century Fox film The Together Brothers, enjoying a resurgence on home video. His studio band included such luminaries as guitarists Ray Parker, Jr. (pre-Raydio, co-writer with White on "You See the Trouble With Me"), bassist Nathan East, Wah Wah Watson, David T. Walker, Dean Parks, Don Peake, bassist Wilton Felder of the Crusaders, Lee Ritenour, drummer Ed Greene, percussionist Gary Coleman, and later keyboardist Rahn Coleman. His hit streak seemed, well, unlimited. Then it all derailed. Russ Regan and another ally, Hosea Wilson, left 20th Century Records and White was left with management that he thought of in less than glowing terms. White left after fulfilling his contract with two more album releases, Love Unlimited Orchestra's My Musical Bouquet and his own I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing. White signed a custom label deal with CBS Records. At the time it was touted as one of the biggest deals ever. He started a label called Unlimited Gold. The roster included White, Love Unlimited, the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Jack Perry, and a teenaged singer named Danny Pearson who charted with a song called "What's Your Sign Girl." He also did a duet album with Glodean James called Barry & Glodean. Aside from the gold album The Message Is Love, most of the albums weren't huge sellers. After eight Barry White albums, four Love Unlimited albums, four Love Unlimited Orchestra albums, constant touring, and dealing with the rigors of the music industry, White decided to take a break. Then in 1992, White signed with A&M, releasing the albums The Man Is Back, The Right Night & Barry White, and Put Me in Your Mix (which contains a duet with Issac Hayes, "Dark and Lovely"). The Icon Is Love became his biggest-selling album since the '70s releases, going multi-platinum. It includes the platinum single "Pratice What You Preach." The production lineup includes Gerald Levert and Tony Nicholas, his godson Chuckii Booker, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and White and his longtime friend Jack Perry. While some later efforts buried his vocals in whiz-bang electronic effects, on The Icon Is Love, White's deep steam engine baritone pipes are upfront in the mix. Staying Power followed in 1999, showcased in the best tradition of soul music where the focus is the singer and the song. The album earned White two Grammys. White's career took him from the ghetto to international success with 106 gold and 41 platinum albums, 20 gold and ten platinum singles, with worldwide sales in excess of 100 million. White, who suffered from hypertension and chronic high blood pressure, was hospitalized for kidney failure in September of 2002. He was undergoing dialysis treatment, but the combination of illnesses proved too much and he died July 4, 2003 at a West Hollywood hospital. By the time of his death, Barry White had achieved a near-universal acclaim and popularity that few artists achieve and even fewer within their own lifetime.

The best-selling female performer of the 1990s, Mariah Carey rose to superstardom on the strength of her stunning five-octave voice; an elastic talent who moved easily from glossy ballads to hip-hop-inspired dance-pop, she earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material. Born in Long Island, NY, on March 27, 1970, Carey moved to New York City at the age of 17 -- just one day after graduating high school -- to pursue a music career; there she befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies, with whom she began writing songs. Her big break came as a backing vocalist on a studio session with dance-pop singer Brenda K. Starr, who handed Carey's demo tape to Columbia Records head Tommy Mottola at a party. According to legend, Mottola listened to the tape in his limo while driving home that same evening, and was so immediately struck by Carey's talent that he doubled back to the party to track her down. After signing to Columbia, Carey entered the studio to begin work on her 1990 self-titled debut LP; the heavily promoted album was a chart-topping smash, launching no less than four number one singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry." Her overnight success earned Grammy awards as Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist, and expectations were high for Carey's follow-up, 1991's Emotions. The album did not disappoint, as the title track reached number one -- a record fifth consecutive chart-topper -- while both "Can't Let Go" and "Make It Happen" landed in the Top Five. Carey's next release was 1992's MTV Unplugged EP, which generated a number one cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There"; featured on the track was backup singer Trey Lorenz, whose appearance immediately helped him land a recording contract of his own. In June 1993, Carey wed Mottola -- some two decades her senior -- in a headline-grabbing ceremony; months later she released her third full-length effort, Music Box, her best-selling record to date. Two more singles, "Dreamlover" and "Hero," reached the top spot on the charts. Carey's first tour followed and was widely panned by critics; undaunted, she resurfaced in 1994 with a holiday release titled Merry Christmas, scoring a seasonal smash with "All I Want for Christmas Is You." 1995's Daydream reflected a new artistic maturity; the first single, "Fantasy," debuted at number one, making Carey the first female artist and just the second performer ever to accomplish the feat. The follow-up, "One Sweet Day" -- a collaboration with Boyz II Men -- repeated the trick, and remained lodged at the top of the charts for a record 16 weeks. After separating from Mottola, Carey returned in 1997 with Butterfly, another staggering success and her most hip-hop-flavored recording to date. #1's -- a collection featuring her 13 previous chart-topping singles as well as "The Prince of Egypt (When You Believe)," a duet with Whitney Houston effectively pairing the two most successful female recording artists in pop history -- followed late the next year. With "Heartbreaker," the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow, Carey became the first artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s; the record also pushed her ahead of the Beatles as the artist with the most cumulative weeks spent atop the Hot 100 singles chart. However, the 2000s weren't as kind to Carey. After signing an 80-million-dollar deal with Virgin -- the biggest record contract ever -- in 2001 she experienced a very public personal and professional meltdown that included rambling, suicidal messages on her website; an appearance on TRL where, clad only in a T-shirt, she handed out Popsicles to the audience; and last but not least, the poorly received movie Glitter and its attendant soundtrack (which was also her Virgin Records debut). Both the film and the album did poorly critically as well as commercially, with Glitter making just under four million dollars in its total U.S. gross and the soundtrack struggling to make gold sales. Following these setbacks, Virgin and Carey parted ways early in 2002, with the label paying her 28 million dollars. That spring, she found a new home with Island/Def Jam, where she set up her own label, MonarC Music. In December, she released her ninth album, Charmbracelet, which failed to become a success. Although she took nearly three years for a follow-up, Carey found a hit with 2005's chart-topping The Emancipation of Mimi, her most successful record in years.

Luther Vandross was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1980s and '90s. Not only did he score a series of multi-million-selling albums containing chart-topping hit singles and perform in sold-out tours in the U.S. and around the world, but he also took charge of his music creatively, writing or co-writing most of his songs and arranging and producing his records. He also performed these functions for other artists, providing them with hits as well. He was, however, equally well known for his distinctive interpretations of classic pop and R&B songs, reflecting his knowledge and appreciation of the popular music of his youth. Possessed of a smooth, versatile tenor voice, he charmed millions with his romantic music. Vandross was born in New York City on April 20, 1951, and grew up in the Alfred E. Smith housing projects in lower Manhattan. Both of his parents, Luther Vandross, Sr., an upholsterer, and Mary Ida Vandross, a nurse, sang, and they encouraged their children to pursue music as a career. Vandross Sr.'s older sister Patricia Van Dross was an early member of the Crests in the mid-'50s (appearing on their early singles, but leaving before they achieved success with "Sixteen Candles"), and Vandross himself began playing the piano at the age of three and took lessons at five, although he remained a largely self-taught musician. After the death of his father in 1959 when he was eight years old, he was raised by his mother, who moved the family to the Bronx. While attending William Howard Taft High School, he formed a vocal group, Shades of Jade, with friends Carlos Alomar, Robin Clark, Anthony Hinton, Diane Sumler, and Fonzi Thornton. All five, along with 11 other teenage performers, were also part of a musical theater workshop, Listen, My Brother, organized by the Apollo Theater in Harlem that recorded a single, "Listen, My Brother"/"Only Love Can Make a Better World," and appeared on the initial episodes of the children's television series Sesame Street in 1969. After graduating from high school that year, Vandross attended Western Michigan University, but dropped out after a year and returned home. He spent the next few years working at odd jobs while trying to break into the music business. In 1973, Vandross got two of his compositions, "In This Lovely Hour" and "Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me," recorded by Delores Hall on her album Hall-Mark, singing the latter song with her as a duet. In 1974, though uncredited, he sang background vocals on Maggie Bell's Queen of the Night, and in August of the same year Carlos Alomar, who had become David Bowie's guitarist, invited him to attend a Bowie recording session at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. He quickly became more than an observer, singing background vocals, serving as a vocal arranger, and co-writing the song "Fascination" with Bowie. The session resulted in the album Young Americans, released in March 1975, and Vandross also went on tour with Bowie in September 1974 as both backup singer and opening act. Meanwhile, Vandross' 1972 composition "Everybody Rejoice (A Brand New Day)" was featured in the Broadway musical The Wiz, which opened a run of 1,672 performances on January 5, 1975. (It was later made into a 1978 film.) The show starred Stephanie Mills, who used Vandross as a background singer on her 1975 album Movin' in the Right Direction. (He also sang, uncredited, on Gary Glitter's self-titled 1975 album.) Through Bowie, Vandross met Bette Midler, who hired him to arrange vocals for her Broadway revue Bette Midler's Clams on the Half Shell, which played ten weeks at the Minskoff Theater starting on April 14, 1975. Midler also introduced him to her record producer, Arif Mardin, at Atlantic Records, and Vandross began to get steady work as a background singer and vocal arranger. In 1976, he appeared on albums by Midler (Songs for the New Depression), the Brecker Brothers Band (Back to Back), Roy Buchanan (A Street Called Straight), Andy Pratt (Resolution), and Judy Collins (Bread and Roses). He also put together a vocal quintet called Luther, consisting of himself, former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, which signed to Atlantic's Cotillion Records subsidiary. Their self-titled debut album was released in June 1976. It did not sell well enough to reach the charts, but the tracks "It's Good for the Soul," "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)," and "The Second Time Around" reached the R&B Top 40. Reed and Wiltshire dropped out, and the remaining trio made a second Luther album, This Close to You (April 1977), with Vandross given top billing, while Hinton and Sumler were credited as featured soloists. The title song reached the R&B charts, but that wasn't enough to keep Cotillion from dropping the group, which then broke up. (Vandross acquired the rights to the Luther recordings and saw to it that they remained out of print.) Meanwhile, Vandross continued doing sessions. In 1977, he appeared on albums by Nils Lofgren (I Came to Dance), Geils (aka the J. Geils Band; Monkey Island), the Average White Band and Ben E. King (Benny and Us), Andy Pratt (Shiver in the Night), Ringo Starr (Ringo the 4th), and Chic (Chic). He also entered the lucrative world of writing and singing commercial jingles, and before long was the musical voice of everything from telephones, fast food, and beverages to various branches of the U.S. military on radio and television. And the recording sessions continued. In 1978, he appeared on albums by Garland Jeffreys (One Eyed Jack), Carly Simon (Boys in the Trees), Roy Buchanan (You're Not Alone), Quincy Jones (Sounds...and Stuff Like That!!), Norma Jean (Norma Jean), T. Life (That's Life), Roberta Flack (Roberta Flack), Odyssey (Hollywood Party Tonight), the soundtrack to the movie version of The Wiz, Chic (C'est Chic), Cat Stevens (Back to Earth), David Spinozza (Spinozza), Carole Bayer Sager (Too), Sean Delaney (Highway), the Good Vibrations (I Get Around), and Lemon (Lemon). And he was the uncredited lead singer on the song "Get on Up (Get on Down)," by Roundtree, an R&B chart entry that fall. Vandross began to gain greater attention in 1979. During the year, he appeared on albums by Sister Sledge (We Are Family), the Average White Band (Feel No Fret), Chic (Risqué), Bette Midler (Thighs and Whispers), Jay Hoggard (Days Like These), Revelation (Get in Touch), John Tropea (To Touch You Again), the Charlie Calello Orchestra (Calello Serenade), Charme (Let It In), Cher (Prisoner), Roberta Flack (Featuring Donny Hathaway), Delores Hall (Delores Hall, Evelyn "Champagne" King (Music Box), Ben Sidran (The Cat and the Hat), and Soirée (Soirée), and on the soundtracks to the films Sunnyside and The Warriors. Especially on the jazz and disco recordings, he was just as likely to be a featured vocalist as a background singer. And he got a prominent credit when he arranged the background vocals for Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer's duet "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," which became a number one pop hit in November 1979. He gained even more recognition in 1980, a year in which he appeared on studio albums by Chaka Khan (Naughty), Melba Moore (Closer), Mtume (In Search of the Rainbow Seekers), Dave Valentin (Land of the Third Eye), the Brecker Brothers (Detente), Terumasa Hino (Daydream), Cissy Houston (Step Aside for a Lady), Jimmy Maelen (Beats Workin'), the Jess Roden Band (Stonechaser), and the Michael Zager Band (Zager), as well as live albums by Bette Midler (Divine Madness) and the duo of Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson (Live & More), and on the soundtrack to the film Fame. But the most important credit for him that year was his work as lead vocalist of the studio group Change. He sang on the band's tracks "Searching," a Top 40 R&B hit, and "The Glow of Love," which also reached the R&B charts, and his name was listed prominently on the discs. This increased his profile even more, and he began circulating a demo tape to recording companies, seeking a solo deal that would allow him to write and produce his own records. On April 21, 1981, he signed with the Epic Records subsidiary of the major label CBS Records. Vandross immediately began work on his debut album, cutting down on sideman sessions, although during 1981 he appeared on albums by Bob James (All Around the Town), Bernard Wright ('Nard), Change (Miracles), the J. Geils Band (Freeze Frame), Hi Gloss (You'll Never Know), the Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band (The Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band), Stephanie Mills (Stephanie), and the Spinners (Can't Shake This Feelin'), and in June 1981 his composition "You Stopped Loving Me" was sung by Roberta Flack, with him arranging and singing background vocals, on the soundtrack to the film Bustin' Loose and became a Top 40 R&B hit for her. (Damaris revived the song for an R&B chart entry in 1984.) Vandross' own version was included on his debut solo album, Never Too Much, released in August. The LP was a tour de force for him; he produced it and wrote six of its seven songs, the exception being a cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's Dionne Warwick hit "A House Is Not a Home." Vandross expressed his musical vision on Never Too Much, and that vision was of a smooth neo-soul style that recalled the pop/R&B of his youth, particularly the music of such predecessors as Warwick, Aretha Franklin, the softer Motown artists, like Smokey Robinson, and some of the girl groups of the early '60s, such as the Shirelles. To those influences, Vandross added some contemporary elements of jazz and disco. But his approach was steeped in tradition; he was a stylist, harking back to the past, yet pointing to a possible post-disco future for R&B music. And R&B fans responded warmly. The title song, "Never Too Much," topped the R&B charts; second single "Don't You Know That?" reached the R&B Top Ten; and third single "Sugar and Spice (I Found Me a Girl)" also charted R&B. The album hit number one R&B in November and was certified gold in December. (It went platinum five years later and double platinum in 1997.) But Vandross encountered more resistance in the pop realm, where the album reached only the Top 20 and the single "Never Too Much" only made the Top 40. Artistically and commercially, these results set a pattern for Vandross' career. Appearing regularly, his albums showed great consistency in style and content, even to the point of featuring a cover of a classic pop/R&B song on each disc. And while they also sold consistently to the R&B audience, they rarely received equal support from pop fans. Having successfully launched his solo career, Vandross might have been expected to abandon session work; certainly, he had less time for it. But he still enjoyed working as a background singer, so he still did it selectively. In 1982, for example, he appeared on albums by Irene Cara (Anyone Can See), Michael Franks (Objects of Desire), Kleeer (Taste the Music), Bob James (Hands Down), Linda Clifford (I'll Keep on Loving You, and Ullanda McCullough (Watching Me, Watching You). At the same time, Vandross' demonstrated abilities as songwriter, producer, and vocal arranger opened up to him the opportunity to work in these capacities with some of the artists he had grown up idolizing, as well as his contemporaries. He first turned his attention to Cheryl Lynn, producing her R&B Top Ten album Instant Love (June 1982); writing the title song, which became a Top 20 R&B hit; and singing a duet with her on a revival of the 1968 Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell hit "If This World Were Mine," which reached the R&B Top Five. ("Look Before You Leap," from the album, also made the R&B charts.) Next, he turned to Aretha Franklin, producing her July 1982 LP Jump to It, and writing or co-writing four of its eight songs, including the title track, an R&B number one; "Love Me Right," which went Top 40 R&B; and "This Is for Real," an R&B chart entry. Topping the R&B chart, it was her first gold album in six years. He also sang on Diana Ross' October 1982 LP Silk Electric. Somehow, he found time to make his second solo album, Forever, for Always, for Love, released in September, again serving as his own producer and writing or co-writing all the tracks except for covers of Smokey Robinson's 1965 hit for the Temptations "Since I Lost My Baby" and, in a medley with his own "Bad Boy," Sam Cooke's "Having a Party." Vandross' co-writers on some of the songs were bassist Marcus Miller and keyboard player Nat Adderley, Jr. (a former member of Listen, My Brother), musical associates who would work with him throughout his career. A musical complement to Never Too Much, Forever, for Always, for Love was another R&B chart-topper for Vandross, throwing off three singles, the Top Five "Bad Boy/Having a Party," the Top 20 "Since I Lost My Baby," and the chart entry "Promise Me." That, of course, was as far as the R&B charts were concerned. On the pop side, the album went Top 20 and only "Bad Boy/Having a Party" charted. Nevertheless, the LP was certified gold in two months and platinum in six. Vandross' multiple career tracks continued apace in 1983. He sang on albums by David Sanborn (Backstreet), James Ingram (It's Your Night), former Shades of Jade member Fonzi Thornton (The Leader), Linda Lewis (A Tear and a Smile), Stephanie Mills (Merciless), and Betty Wright (Back at You). He produced Aretha Franklin's next album, Get It Right, composing the title song, which hit number one R&B, with Marcus Miller, and its follow-up, "Every Girl (Wants My Guy)," a Top Ten R&B hit. Then, he turned to another idol of his youth, Dionne Warwick, producing her album How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye. He and Warwick sang the title song as a duet that became her first R&B Top Ten hit in eight years; it also made the pop Top 40. "Got a Date," the Vandross/Miller composition released as a second single from the album, also made the R&B charts. And, although it took until December, Vandross managed to come up with his third solo album, the aptly titled Busy Body. On this album, he co-produced several of the tracks with Miller, also writing most of the material with Miller and Nat Adderley, Jr., the exceptions being "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" and a medley of the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett standard "Superstar" with Stevie Wonder's "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)." As usual, there were three singles: "I'll Let You Slide" and "Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" made the R&B Top Ten, and "Make Me a Believer" was a chart entry (of the three, only the medley scraped into the pop chart); as usual, the album hit number one R&B, but only the Top 40 of the pop chart; and as usual, sales certifications poured in, the album going gold in two months and platinum in January 1985. Vandross finally eased off on his recording schedule during 1984, if only because he was now a major concert attraction and toured in both North America and Europe. His only credit for the year was his composing (with Marcus Miller), arranging, producing, and singing background vocals on the song "You're My Choice Tonight (Choose Me)" for Teddy Pendergrass, a Top 20 R&B hit. Vandross thus was able to lavish more time on his fourth album, The Night I Fell in Love, released in March 1985. Overall producer credit again went to him, with three of the eight tracks co-produced by Miller. Six of the songs were written by Vandross alone or co-written with Miller or Nat Adderley, Jr., the exceptions being covers of Brenda Russell's "If Only for One Night" and Stevie Wonder's "Creepin'." The album spawned four R&B single hits: "'Til My Baby Comes Home" (Top Ten and a Top 40 pop hit); "It's Over Now" (Top Five); "Wait for Love" (Top 20); and "If Only for One Night." The album spent seven weeks atop Billboard's R&B LP list, going gold and platinum simultaneously as soon as it was eligible for certification in May and double platinum in 1990. It also reached number 14 in the pop charts, Vandross' best showing yet. With his own album out of the way, he made some selected appearances on other albums during 1985, contributing a song, "She's So Good to Me," to the soundtrack of the film The Goonies and singing on albums by Carly Simon (Spoiled Girl), Patti Austin (Gettin' Away with Murder), and Wonder (In Square Circle). He also sang background vocals on the Temptations' "Do You Really Love Your Baby," a song he co-wrote with Miller that peaked in the R&B Top 20 in early 1986. Vandross spent much of 1986 working on his own material, only pausing to contribute background vocals on David Bowie's soundtrack to the film Labyrinth. The results of his efforts were first heard in June when "Give Me the Reason" was included on the soundtrack to the film Ruthless People and released as a single that went Top Five R&B and reached the pop chart. Vandross' fifth album, also titled Give Me the Reason, followed in September. His fifth consecutive R&B chart-topper, it included additional singles "Stop to Love" (number one R&B and his first Top 20 pop hit); the duet with Gregory Hines "There's Nothing Better Than Love," co-written with John "Skip" Anderson, a synthesizer player in Vandross' band (also number one R&B and a pop chart entry); "I Really Didn't Mean It" (Top Ten R&B); and "So Amazing" (an R&B chart entry of a Vandross song previously recorded by Dionne Warwick, whose Burt Bacharach/Hal David hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was revived on the LP). Simultaneous gold and platinum certifications in December were followed by a double-platinum award in 1990. In 1987, Vandross contributed a song, "It's Hard for Me to Say," which he co-wrote with John "Skip" Anderson and co-produced, to Diana Ross' album Red Hot Rhythm & Blues, and worked as a background singer and arranger on Ava Cherry's Picture Me and Cheryl Lynn's Start Over. He also appeared on Irene Cara's Carasmatic, Nick Kamen's self-titled album, and Doc Powell's Love Is Where It's At. Meanwhile, Gerald Albright covered "So Amazing" and took it into the R&B Top 20. In 1988, Vandross sang background vocals on Patti Austin's The Real Me and Barbra Streisand's Till I Loved You, and he wrote "The Girl Wants to Dance with You," which became a Top Ten R&B hit for Gregory Hines. The song appeared on Hines' self-titled album, which Vandross produced. Otherwise, he spent the two-year interval between his fifth and sixth albums doing shows and working on that sixth album, Any Love, which appeared in October 1988 and was supported by a three-month U.S. tour. By now, Marcus Miller had been promoted to full co-producer, and other co-writers had joined the team, but the approach was still the same. And so was the success. Any Love topped the R&B charts and gave Vandross his first Top Ten pop album, with the usual simultaneous gold and platinum certifications two months after release. The title song topped the R&B list and penetrated the pop chart; second single "She Won't Talk to Me" went Top Five R&B and made the pop Top 40; and "For You to Love" was another Top Five R&B hit. Vandross had by now become an international success, and a record-breaking ten-night stand at London's Wembley Arena in March 1989 was commemorated with a home video, Live at Wembley. At the close of an enormously successful decade, Vandross and Epic determined to sum things up, and in October 1989 issued the two-LP greatest-hits compilation The Best of Luther Vandross: The Best of Love, which included two new tracks, "Here and Now" and "Treat You Right." With those additions, the collection didn't just summarize Vandross' career, it finally gave him his long-sought major crossover hit, as "Here and Now," a song co-written by Dionne Warwick's son David L. Elliott with Terry Steele, not only topped the R&B chart but also hit the pop Top Ten, going gold in the process. It also won Vandross his first Grammy Award, for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. "Treat You Right" went Top Five R&B, and the set was a million seller by March 1990. (By 1997, it was triple platinum.) Between the release of the hits album and his next regular studio album, Power of Love, which appeared in April 1991, Vandross as usual lent his talents to other artists' recordings. He sang background vocals for Quincy Jones (Back on the Block), Paul Jackson, Jr. (Out of the Shadows), and David Lasley (Soldiers on the Moon). He contributed a song, "There's Only You," to the soundtrack of the 1990 film Made in Heaven. He wrote and produced the song "Who Do You Love" for Whitney Houston's album I'm Your Baby Tonight. And he served as an arranger, producer, and background vocalist on Lisa Fischer's So Intense, released the same day as Power of Love. Vandross' seventh album, Power of Love suggested that the pop breakthrough he had achieved with "Here and Now" would be sustained. The advance single, a medley of Vandross and Marcus Miller's song "Power of Love" with the Sandpebbles' 1967 hit "Love Power," not only topped the R&B charts, but also went Top Five pop, and the LP, Vandross' seventh R&B number one, was his second to penetrate the pop Top Ten. A million seller by June 1991, it went double platinum two years later in the wake of the further singles "Don't Want to Be a Fool" (Top Five R&B, Top Ten pop), "The Rush" (Top Ten R&B and a pop chart entry), and "Sometimes It's Only Love" (Top Ten R&B). Vandross' national tour to support the album began in September 1991 and included four sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in October as it ran through January 1992. "Power of Love/Love Power" was named Best R&B Song at the 1991 Grammys, and the Power of Love album won Vandross another trophy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. One might have supposed that all was well in the world of Luther Vandross, but on January 2, 1992, he filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Sony Music Entertainment (which had acquired CBS Records), citing California Labor Code Section 2855, which limits personal service contracts to seven years. By then, he had been with CBS/Sony for nearly 11 years, fulfilling a ten-album contract that still had three albums to go. Vandross was not the first or the last recording artist to file such a suit, and whether he really wanted to void his contract, believing that Epic still hadn't done enough to sell his records to the pop audience, or simply intended to use the suit to induce the record company to renegotiate his deal on more favorable terms, is unclear. Not for the first or last time, the record company in question settled quietly, not wishing to test the law. The terms of the settlement were not reported, but thereafter, Vandross had his own vanity label, his records going out under the Epic/LV imprint. As usual, following the release of Power of Love, Vandross found the time to work with other artists. He appeared on 1991 albums by BeBe & CeCe Winans (Different Lifestyles), Patti LaBelle (Burnin'), Richard Marx (Rush Street), and Kevin Owens (That Time Again), and he co-wrote and produced the song "Doctor's Orders" on Aretha Franklin's What You See Is What You Sweat. In 1992, without a new album out, he kept his name before the public with special appearances, starting with the soundtrack to the film Mo' Money, released in June, which featured a song called "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (not the 1927 standard by Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, but a newly written composition) that he performed with Janet Jackson, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Ralph Tresvant (which is to say, four of the five members of New Edition). It hit number one on the R&B chart and went Top Ten pop. Next, Vandross wrote and performed the theme song "Heart of a Hero" for the soundtrack of the movie Hero, released in October 1992, and the same month he contributed a performance of "The Christmas Song" to the seasonal charity album A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 2. He made more modest contributions to two albums released in the first quarter of 1993, Dionne Warwick's Friends Can Be Lovers and Eddie Murphy's Love's Alright. Never Let Me Go, Vandross' eighth album, was released on June 1, 1993, prefaced by the single "Little Miracles (Happen Every Day)." Maybe the promotional staff at Epic Records was demoralized by the recent lawsuit, or perhaps changing musical styles, notably the rise of hip-hop, were affecting matters, but the commercial response to Vandross' new music was slightly disappointing. The single reached the R&B Top Ten but was only a minor pop chart entry, and Never Let Me Go, despite marking a new pop chart peak for Vandross at number six, stayed in that chart less than half the tenure enjoyed by Power of Love; on the R&B chart, it crested at number three, Vandross' first new album not to reach number one. Three further singles charted -- "Heaven Knows," a cover of the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love," and "Never Let Me Go" -- but none was a substantial hit. The falloff in sales was actually minor; the album took one month longer to go platinum than Vandross albums usually did. But for the first time, the singer's momentum was slowing. Despite this, he continued his usual round of activities, initially touring Europe to promote the album; appearing in the small part of a hitman in the film The Meteor Man in August; launching a U.S. arena tour that began in September and ran through November; and, in November, singing a duet with Frank Sinatra of Rodgers & Hart's "The Lady Is a Tramp" as the leadoff track on Sinatra's celebrated Duets album. Then it was back to Europe for another round of dates. Vandross also paid visits to his friends in recording studios, resulting in appearances on the 1994 albums Paid Vacation by Richard Marx, Restless by Bob James, and World Tour by Jason Miles. But he clearly knew something had to be done to revitalize his own recording career. An idea came from Sony president Tommy Mottola and his then-wife, superstar Mariah Carey. Vandross had put at least one oldie on every one of his albums: why not do an all-covers album? For most other artists, this would have seemed like a typically clichéd record company concept, commercial but artistically stifling. For Vandross, who was steeped in pop music history and who had done some of his best work reimagining the music of others, it was a natural. He even agreed to give up the production reins to a Sony stalwart, the commercially savvy Walter Afanasieff, whose recent clients included Carey, Michael Bolton, and Celine Dion. The result was the modestly titled Songs, released September 27, 1994. The album was prefaced by a cover of the 1981 Lionel Richie/Diana Ross hit "Endless Love," on which Vandross sang a duet with Carey. The single peaked at number two on the pop charts, a new high for Vandross, even outpacing its number seven showing on the R&B charts. The album went to number two R&B and number five pop, another crossover high for the singer. With follow-up singles in revivals of Heatwave's 1978 hit "Always and Forever" (Top 20 R&B and a pop chart entry) and the double-sided "Going in Circles"/"Love the One You're With" (the former previously a hit for both the Friends of Distinction and the Gap Band; the latter the Stephen Stills hit), which went Top 40 R&B and was another pop chart entry, the album was an immediate million-seller and went double platinum within 18 months. His commercial status restored, Vandross undertook his usual pursuits, singing background vocals on the occasional album (Cindy Mizelle's Cindy Mizelle [1994], Naomi Campbell's Babywoman, Yvonne Lewis' No Strangers in Paradise [both 1995]) and undertaking a tour that began on May 31, 1995, in San Diego, CA. For his next album, he tried another favorite record company concept, the holiday collection. This Is Christmas, which contained seven originals along with only three traditional Christmas songs and restored the production team of Vandross, Nat Adderley, Jr., and Marcus Miller, was released October 24, 1995. It went Top Five R&B (with the track "Every Year, Every Christmas" making the R&B Top 40) and peaked at number 28 in the pop charts. An immediately certified gold album, it became a perennial seller and went platinum in 2002. Also in the 1995 holiday season, Vandross contributed a track, "The Thrill I'm In," to the soundtrack of the film Money Train. Vandross did some touring during the summer of 1996, and he contributed a cover of the Peter, Paul & Mary hit "If I Had a Hammer" to the benefit album For Our Children Too, released in September, but he spent most of the year working on Your Secret Love, the album that would complete his Epic Records contract. It was released on October 1, following the title song, which came out as an advance single that made the R&B Top Five and was a pop chart entry. (The track went on to win Vandross another Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.) The album itself spent a week at number two in the R&B charts and made the pop Top Ten, as second single "I Can Make It Better" hit the R&B Top 20, also making the pop chart, and third single "Love Don't Love You Anymore" became a minor R&B hit. Simultaneous gold and platinum certifications arrived in December. Vandross spent much of 1997 touring, beginning with an appearance at Superbowl XXXI on January 26 to sing the national anthem. He did take time out to sing background vocals on Richard Marx's April release, Flesh & Bone, however. On September 30, Epic/LV released his valedictory collection, One Night with You: The Best of Love, Vol. 2, which began with four new recordings, none of them written or produced by him, but instead contributed by such usually reliable hitmakers as Diane Warren, R. Kelly, and the team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Understandably, Epic didn't do much of a promotional job on this contractual obligation release, which nevertheless reached the R&B Top 40 and the pop Top 50, spawning a Top 40 R&B hit in R. Kelly's "When You Call on Me/Baby That's When I Come Runnin'" and an R&B chart entry in Jam & Lewis' "I Won't Let You Do That to Me," with a gold-disc certification in December. While weighing offers from different record companies, Vandross made some guest appearances, turning up on BeBe Winans' self-titled album in October 1997, on Jimmy Reid's Forever Loved in March 1998, and on his associate Marcus Miller's Suddenly in June. On April 8, he performed at a Burt Bacharach tribute concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, singing "Windows of the World" and "What the World Needs Now." The show was filmed for television and taped, resulting in a soundtrack album, One Amazing Night, released in November. Vandross also paid tribute to Patti LaBelle at the same venue on June 2 for a PBS special. Deciding on Virgin Records, a subsidiary of the major label EMI, he presented a new album, I Know, on August 11. He had already begun to introduce contemporary elements of rap and hip-hop on Your Secret Love, and I Know continued this trend, but it was a commercial disappointment, only going gold and generating just one Top 40 R&B hit in "Nights in Harlem." As a result, he left Virgin after only this one release. During 1999 and 2000, Vandross kept his hand in with soundtrack and session work. He co-wrote and co-produced "When You're a Woman" for Lisa Fischer and Masters at Work, featured on the soundtrack of the film 24 Hour Woman, released in March 1999; contributed background vocals to Natalie Cole's Snowfall on the Sahara in June 1999; sang and arranged for Dave Koz's The Dance in September 1999; and sang background vocals and did vocal arrangements on BeBe Winans' Love & Freedom in August 2000. That same month, he ended his search for a new record company affiliation, becoming the first act signed to veteran record executive Clive Davis' new startup label, J Records. He made his label debut with the track "If I Was the One," included on the soundtrack of Dr. Doolittle 2 on June 5, 2001. The song also appeared on Luther Vandross, which was released two weeks later. Vandross and Davis served as co-album producers, with individual tracks produced by others, and new songwriters were brought in to give Vandross a new, current sound. The makeover was largely successful. Leadoff single "Take You Out" became a Top Ten R&B and Top 40 pop hit, followed by the R&B chart entry "Can Heaven Wait" and the R&B Top 40 and pop chart entry "I'd Rather," as the album made the pop Top Ten and just missed topping the R&B chart, reaching platinum status by November. His career revitalized once again, Vandross toured in early 2002, then began work on a second album for J, taking time out to sing Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" on Doc Powell's album 97th and Columbus and to contribute background vocals to "Load Is Lifted" on Suzanne Couch's In the Rhythm (not released until 2005). He co-wrote the title song for his new album, "Dance with My Father," with Richard Marx, and they combined for a heartfelt tribute to Vandross' father. The album was finished by the spring of 2003, and Vandross was preparing for a round of publicity work when he collapsed in his New York apartment on April 16, 2003, the victim of a serious stroke, apparently brought on by his diabetes and the physical strain of his lifelong struggles with his weight. Despite his illness, J released "Dance with My Father," which became an R&B and pop Top 40 hit and a gold record, introducing the album, which hit number one on both charts, a first for him. Over the next year, "Smooth Love," "Think About You," "Buy Me a Rose," and "The Closer I Get to You" (a duet with Beyoncé Knowles re-creating the original version by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway) figured in the pop, R&B, and/or adult contemporary (AC) charts, as the album sold over two million copies. Vandross was a sentimental favorite at the 2003 Grammy Awards, and his career total of trophies doubled from four to eight as he won Song of the Year and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, for "Dance with My Father," Best R&B Album, and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You." He made an appearance via videotape to accept his awards and promised to return to action soon. Meanwhile, J Records had kept his name before the public by releasing the concert collection Live Radio City Music Hall 2003, recorded in February 2003, on October 14, 2003; it reached number six in the R&B charts and number 22 in the pop charts. By all reports, Vandross continued his recovery during 2004 and into 2005; he even appeared on Oprah Winfrey's television show in May 2005. But on July 1, 2005, it was announced that he had died, having "never really recovered" from his stroke. During his lifetime, Luther Vandross' albums were certified for sales of 23-and-a-half-million copies in the U.S.; estimates of his total worldwide record sales were as high as 40 million. Sales, of course, tell only part of the story, but it is notable that, in the precarious world of popular music, and in particular of the notoriously fickle genre of R&B and the difficult category of crossover pop, Vandross sold records in the millions consistently for over two decades. It is even more notable that, although he certainly molded his music to a certain extent to meet the marketplace, he also imposed his own direction on R&B. Prior to him, the popular music of African-Americans tended to jump from one style to another with nary a look backward. But Vandross, coming along in the wake of disco and while rap/hip-hop was in its infancy, insisted on reverence for the soul music of the recent past and deliberately reformulated it in an "old-school" approach that came to be known as the black AC radio format "quiet storm." Even as rap dominated the charts in the early years of the 21st century, he maintained his passion for romantic, melodic music, and he drew listeners along with him. His early death at the age of 54 robbed American popular music of one of its more consistent and compelling voices, and it is only a partial comfort that he left behind a substantial body of work.

Michael Jackson was unquestionably the biggest pop star of the '80s, and certainly one of the most popular recording artists of all time. In his prime, Jackson was an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and loads of sheer star power. His 1982 blockbuster Thriller became the biggest-selling album of all time (probably his best-known accomplishment), and he was the first black artist to find stardom on MTV, breaking down innumerable boundaries both for his race and for music video as an art form. Yet as Jackson's career began, very gradually, to descend from the dizzying heights of his peak years, most of the media's attention focused on his increasingly bizarre eccentricities; he was often depicted as an arrested man-child, completely sheltered from adult reality by a life spent in show business. The snickering turned to scandal in 1993, when Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy; although he categorically denied the charges, his out-of-court settlement failed to restore his tarnished image. He never quite escaped the stigma of those allegations, and while he continued to sell records at superstar-like levels, he didn't release them with enough frequency (or, many critics thought, inspiration) to once again become better known for his music than his private life. Whether as a pop icon or a tabloid caricature, Jackson always remained bigger than life. Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, IN. The fifth son of steelworker Joe Jackson, Michael displayed a talent for music and dance from an extremely young age. His childhood was strictly regimented; from the start, he was to an extent sheltered from the outside world by his mother's Jehovah's Witness faith, and his father was by all accounts an often ill-tempered disciplinarian. Joe began to organize a family musical group around his three eldest sons in 1962, and Michael joined them the following year, quickly establishing himself as a dynamic stage performer. His dead-on mastery of James Brown's dance moves and soulful, mature-beyond-his-years vocals made him a natural focal point, especially given his incredibly young age. Dubbed the Jackson 5, the group signed to Motown in 1968 and issued their debut single in October 1969, when Michael was just 11 years old. "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There" all hit number one in 1970, making the Jackson 5 the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the charts. Motown began priming Michael for a solo career in 1971, and his first single, "Got to Be There," was issued toward the end of the year; it hit the Top Five, as did the follow-up, a cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin." Later in 1972, Jackson had his first number one solo single, "Ben," the title song from a children's thriller about a young boy who befriends Ben, the highly intelligent leader of a gang of homicidal rats. Given the subject matter, the song was surprisingly sincere and sentimental, and even earned an Oscar nomination. However, the momentum of Jackson's solo career (much like that of the Jackson 5) soon stalled. He released his fourth and final album on Motown in 1975, and the following year, he and his brothers (save Jermaine) signed to Epic and became the Jacksons. In 1977, Jackson landed a starring role alongside Diana Ross in the all-black film musical The Wiz, a retelling of The Wizard of Oz; here he met producer/composer Quincy Jones for the first time. Encouraged by the success of the Jacksons' self-produced, mostly self-written 1978 album Destiny, Jackson elected to resume his solo career when his management contract with his father expired shortly thereafter. With Jones producing, Jackson recorded his first solo album as an adult, Off the Wall. An immaculately crafted set of funky disco-pop, smooth soul, and lush, sentimental pop ballads, Off the Wall made Jackson a star all over again. It produced four Top Ten singles, including the number one hits "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You," and went platinum (it went on to sell over seven million copies); even so, Jackson remained loyal to his brothers and stayed with the group. No group could have contained Jackson's rapidly rising star for long; however, there was still no sign (if there ever could be) that his next album would become the biggest in history. Released in 1982, the Quincy Jones-produced Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more driving, the pop tunes and ballads softer and more soulful, and all of it was recognizably Michael. Jackson brought in Paul McCartney for a duet, guitarist Eddie Van Halen for a jaw-dropping solo, and Vincent Price for a creepy recitation. It was no surprise that Thriller was a hit; what was a surprise was its staying power. Jackson's duet with McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," was a natural single choice, and it peaked at number two; then "Billie Jean" and the Van Halen track "Beat It" both hit number one, for seven and three weeks respectively. Those latter two songs, as well as the future Top Five title track, had one important feature in common: Jackson supported them with elaborately conceived video clips that revolutionized the way music videos were made. Jackson treated them as song-length movies with structured narratives: "Billie Jean" set the song's tale of a paternity suit in a nightmarish dream world where Jackson was a solitary, sometimes invisible presence; the anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became an homage to West Side Story; and the ten-minute-plus clip for "Thriller" (routinely selected as the best video of all time) featured Jackson leading a dance troupe of rotting zombies, with loads of horror-film makeup and effects. Having never really accepted black artists in the past, MTV played the clips to death, garnering massive publicity for Jackson and droves of viewers for the fledgling cable network. Jackson sealed his own phenomenon by debuting his signature "moonwalk" dance step on May 16, 1983, on Motown's televised 25th anniversary special; though he didn't invent the moonwalk (as he himself was quick to point out), it became as much of a Jackson signature as his vocal hiccups or single white-sequined glove. Showing no signs of slowing down, Thriller just kept spinning off singles, including "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," the airy ballad "Human Nature," and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"; in all, seven of its nine tracks wound up in the Top Ten, obliterating conventional ideas of how many singles could be released from an album before it ran its course. Thriller stayed on the charts for over two years, spent 37 nonconsecutive weeks at number one, and became the best-selling album of all time; it went on to sell 25 million copies in the U.S. alone, and around another 20 million overseas. Naturally, Jackson won a slew of awards, including a record eight Grammys in one night, and snagged the largest endorsement deal ever when he became a spokesman for Pepsi (he would later be burned in an accident while filming a commercial). At the end of 1983, Jackson was again on top of the singles charts, this time as part of a second duet with McCartney, "Say Say Say." In 1984, Jackson rejoined his brothers one last time for the album Victory, whose supporting tour was one of the biggest (and priciest) of the year. The following year, he and Lionel Richie co-wrote the anthemic "We Are the World" for the all-star famine-relief effort USA for Africa; it became one of the fastest-selling singles ever. Even at this early stage, wild rumors about Jackson's private life were swirling. His shyness and reluctance to grant interviews (ironically, due in part to his concerns about being misrepresented) only encouraged more speculation. Some pointed to his soft-spoken, still girlish voice as evidence that he'd undergone hormone treatments to preserve the high, flexible range of his youth; stories were told about Jackson sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber to slow the aging process, and purchasing the skeleton of John Merrick, the Elephant Man (Jackson did view the bones in the London Hospital, but did not buy them). Jackson bought a large ranch in California which he dubbed Neverland, and filled it with amusement park rides and animals (including the notorious pet chimpanzee Bubbles), which only fueled the public's perception of him as a somewhat bizarre eccentric obsessed with recapturing his childhood. He also underwent cosmetic surgery several times, which led to accusations from the black community that his gradually lightening skin tone was the result of an intentional effort to become whiter; a few years later, Jackson revealed that he had a disorder called vitiligo, in which pigment disappears from the skin, leaving large white blotches and making direct sunlight dangerous. One of the rumors that was definitely true was that Jackson owned the rights to the Beatles' catalog; in 1985, he acquired ATV Publishing, the firm that controlled all the Lennon-McCartney copyrights (among others), which wound up costing him his friendship with McCartney. During his long layoff between records, Jackson indulged his interest in film and video by working with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 3-D short film Captain Eo. The special-effects extravaganza was shown at the enormous widescreen IMAX theaters in Disney's amusement parks for 12 years, beginning in 1986. Finally, Jackson re-entered the studio with Quincy Jones to begin the near-impossible task of crafting a follow-up to Thriller. Bad was released to enormous public anticipation in 1987, and was accompanied by equally enormous publicity. It debuted at number one, and the first single, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," with vocal accompaniment by Siedah Garrett, also shot up the charts to number one. Like Thriller, Bad continued to spin off singles for well over a year after its release, and became the first album ever to produce five number one hits; the others were "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana." Jackson supported the album with a lengthy world tour that featured a typically spectacular, elaborate stage show; it became the highest-grossing tour of all time. Although Jackson's success was still staggering, there were faint undercurrents of disappointment, partly because of the unparalleled phenomenon of Thriller (Bad "only" sold eight million copies), and partly because the album itself didn't seem quite as exuberant or uniformly consistent when compared to its predecessors. Jackson took another long hiatus between albums, giving the media little to focus on besides his numerous eccentricities; by this time, the British tabloids delighted in calling him "Wacko Jacko," a name he detested. When Jackson returned in with a new album in late 1991, he'd come up with a different moniker: "the King of Pop." Dangerous found Jackson ending his collaboration with Quincy Jones in an effort to update his sound; accordingly, many of the tracks were helmed by the groundbreaking new jack swing producer Teddy Riley. As expected, the album debuted at number one, and its lead single, "Black or White," shot to the top as well. Jackson courted controversy with the song's video, however; after the song itself ended, there was a long dance sequence in which Jackson shouted, grabbed his crotch, and smashed car windows in a bizarre display that seemed at odds with the song's harmonious message. With the video given a high-profile, prime-time network premiere, Jackson was criticized for the inappropriate violence and the message it might send to his younger fans. However, Jackson would not be the biggest story in popular music for long. In early 1992, Nirvana's Nevermind symbolically knocked Dangerous out of the number one spot; after the alternative rock revolution, the pop charts would never be quite the same. Jackson scored several more hits off the album, including the Top Tens "Remember the Time" and "In the Closet," but the aggressive "Jam" and the saccharine "Heal the World" both performed disappointingly. Jackson had long preferred the company of children over other adults, and befriended quite a few, inviting them to stay at his Neverland Ranch and enjoy the massive playground he'd assembled over the years. In 1993, Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy who'd become a frequent guest at Neverland. Predictably, there was a tabloid feeding frenzy, and a mainstream media circus as well. In the court of public opinion, the charges seemed all too plausible: Jackson was near-universally perceived as a weirdo, and here was a handy explanation for his heretofore asexual persona and distaste for adult companions. Additionally, Jackson entered rehab for a short time, seeking treatment for an addiction to pain killers. Investigations were unsuccessful in turning up any other boys who echoed the allegations, and Jackson countersued his accusers for attempting extortion; however, in spite of the fact that no criminal charges were ever filed against Jackson, he settled the boy's family's suit out of court in early 1995, paying an estimated 18 to 20 million dollars. Many felt the settlement was tantamount to an admission of guilt, and when Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, the move was perceived as a desperate ploy to rehabilitate his image; the marriage broke up just 19 months later, seemingly lending credence to the charge. In 1995, Jackson attempted to put the focus back on his music by preparing HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1, a two-CD set featuring one disc of new material and one of his greatest hits. The album debuted at number one, but the format backfired on Jackson: his fans already owned the hits, and the new album simply wasn't strong enough to offset the added cost of the extra disc for many more casual listeners. There were some encouraging signs -- the lead single "Scream," a duet with sister Janet, debuted at number five, setting a new American chart record that was broken when the follow-up, "You Are Not Alone," became the first single ever to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number one. But on the whole, HIStory was something of a disappointment. Additionally, Jackson collapsed during rehearsals for an awards show later that year, and had to be rushed to the hospital; what was more, the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) was threatening to catch Thriller's American sales record (it eventually did, and the two continued to run neck and neck). There were signs that Jackson was grasping at his self-proclaimed King of Pop status; the cover of HIStory depicted an enormous statue of Jackson, and he performed at the 1996 BRIT Awards dressed as a Messiah, with children and a rabbi surrounding him worshipfully (Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker stormed the stage to protest Jackson's hubris during the middle of the song). The 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor failed to even go platinum, although remix albums historically don't perform nearly as well as new material. In late 1996, Jackson remarried, to nurse Debbie Rowe; over the next two years, the couple had two children, son Prince Michael Jackson, Jr. and daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. However, Jackson and Rowe divorced in late 1999. In 2001, Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and later held a massive concert at Madison Square Garden celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first solo record. Among many other celebrity guests, the show featured the first on-stage reunion of the Jacksons since the Victory tour. In the wake of September 11, Jackson put together an all-star charity benefit single, "What More Can I Give." His new album, Invincible, was released late in the year, marking the first time he'd issued a collection of entirely new material since Dangerous; it found him working heavily with urban soul production wizard Rodney Jerkins. Invincible debuted at number one and quickly went double platinum; however, its initial singles, "You Rock My World" and "Butterflies," had rather disappointing showings on the charts, with the latter not even reaching the Top Ten. To compound matters, the expensive "What More Can I Give" single and video were canceled by Sony when executive producer Marc Schaffel was revealed to work in pornography. Jackson's camp tried to distance the singer from Schaffel, and the various corporations that were attached to it (McDonalds, Sony) claimed they had minimal involvement if any with the song. Sony and Jackson began a press war in the summer of 2002, starting with Jackson's claims that the label asked for 200 million dollars to pay them back for marketing costs. Although they had spent 55 million on his disappointing comeback, Sony released a statement saying that no such request had ever been made. Jackson stewed for a few weeks before launching a press attack on Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola, calling him "devilish" and making claims that he used racist language and held down black artists. Many Sony artists, including Mariah Carey and Ricky Martin, defended Mottola, but Jackson and his family maintained that racism ended their professional relationship. From that point, Jackson's career took an extreme turn toward the bizarre, starting with MTV's annual Video Awards. When Britney Spears presented him with a birthday cake, an offhand remark about being the artist of the millennium inspired a rambling Jackson to accept a meaningless trophy (which everyone presenting on-stage received) as an actual Artist of the Millennium award. Next came accusations from a promotional company over his promises of a tour and several appearances that he then canceled. Jackson arrived in court late, gave a drowsy testimony, and inspired gasps when he removed a surgical mask to reveal his nose had caved in from a botched cosmetic surgery. Only days later, German fans were horrified when Jackson came to the balcony of his hotel suite and briefly dangled his 11-month old baby Prince Michael II (nicknamed "Blanket" by Jackson) over the edge with one arm. Although he apologized the next day, claiming he had gotten caught up in the moment, this only did more to cement the King of Pop's public image as an out-of-control millionaire. 2003 turned out to not be Jackson's year as in November his Neverland Ranch was extensively searched by police, whereby he was subsequently arrested on charges of child molestation. That same month the single disc retrospective Number Ones hit the stands with one new song, "One More Chance". A year later - nearly to the day - the four CD and one DVD box set The Ultimate Collection appeared with numerous rarities including the original demo for "We Are the World". In January 2005 his child molestation trial began and by May he was acquitted on all counts. Jackson soon relocated to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain and began working on new music including a charity single that would benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. The single never appeared but the two disc The Essential Michael Jackson did and in 2006 the strange box set Visionary was released featuring 20 DualDiscs replicating 20 big hit singles with their videos included on the DVD side. In early 2007 it was announced that a comeback album was planned for late in the year.