Luther Vandross Documentary, premires tonight on CNN

[Motown Eddie]

Just a reminder for those interested, the Luther Vandross Documentary, Luther-Never Too Much premires tonight at 8PM [EST] on CNN.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Thanks. Eddie! Really looking forward to this one!

[daviddesper]

Tonight....assuming we mean January 1......is also the ABC broadcast of the R & R Hall of Fame Inductions. It will run from 8-11 Eastern time.

[reese]

Tonight....assuming we mean January 1......is also the ABC broadcast of the R & R Hall of Fame Inductions. It will run from 8-11 Eastern time.

For those who'd like to watch both, the Luther doc is scheduled to air again on January 1st at 11pm est, although I wouldn't be surprised if the terrible events in New Orleans might impact today's schedule.

The doc is also scheduled for air again on January 4th at 8pm est.

[Motown Eddie]

The doc is also scheduled for air again on January 4th at 8pm est.

Thanks for that info [just in case tonight's schedule is changed due to coverage of the attack in New Orleans].

[khansperac]

This was so damn good. I really enjoyed it.

[milven]

This was so damn good. I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it too

[Motown Eddie]

This was so damn good. I really enjoyed it.

Same here!

[reese]

It was a really good documentary. I enjoyed learning more about Luther's early years with Listen My Brother. Once the success of NEVER TOO MUCH happened, the film's pace seemed to race through the Epic years. It would have been nice to have a bit more, like what happened during his relatively brief stint with Virgin or how he was able to place a song in the Broadway musical THE WIZ. But on the whole, it was a good effort.

[Boogiedown]

What a crock a sh*t .... exactly the kind of narrative one would expect from CNN though. That's it, let's make his story about race.....that's always an easy angle to add some drama, and pretense of a show's bigger purpose, and most importantly, ratings. Claims so casually made here, yet without providing an ounce of evidence to back them up.... all while including lots of visuals showing quite the opposite. [i.e. everybody getting along splendidly]

Let's fester divisive narratives that make gullible people buy into a mindset of how terrible the world is.
"Why try? You can't make it!!" [as if Luther's story is one of a failure] Good job CNN.

Here's their takeaway in their "tribute" to the man: "Poor Luther Vandross: A Debilitated Victim Of His Skin's Color".

[khansperac]

Surprised to see that Patti Labelle is getting a lot of criticism online.

[carlo]

What a crock a sh*t .... exactly the kind of narrative one would expect from CNN though. That's it, let's make his story about race.....that's always an easy angle to add some drama, and pretense of a show's bigger purpose, and most importantly, ratings. Claims so casually made here, yet without providing an ounce of evidence to back them up.... all while including lots of visuals showing quite the opposite. [i.e. everybody getting along splendidly]

Let's fester divisive narratives that make gullible people buy into a mindset of how terrible the world is.
"Why try? You can't make it!!" [as if Luther's story is one of a failure] Good job CNN.

Here's their takeaway in their "tribute" to the man: "Poor Luther Vandross: A Debilitated Victim Of His Skin's Color".

CNN didn't make this documentary. They had nothing to do with it...they only aired it, after the film finished making its initial premieres at the various film festivals and after it completed its run in theaters. I watched the documentary over a year ago, before it aired on CNN.

[carlo]

Surprised to see that Patti Labelle is getting a lot of criticism online.

I don't really get the criticism. Luther was already long gone after she did that interview with Andy Cohen, and at the time, from my memory, there were no bombshell headlines after that interview about her revealing Luther's sexuality. Yes, he never wanted to go public with that, but it was always the elephant in the room. I see some new headlines stating that there's some upset in Patti's camp because she interviewed for the doc and they didn't use her segment. They used the Andy Cohen interview clip instead, making her seem like she was a gossipy ex-friend, instead of her being able to speak to his talent, etc., like I know she did. Now everybody is reacting to those headlines and are up in arms, accusing her of outing him. Honestly, at this point, it doesn't really matter. These days, people on the internet want to be upset about everything. I bet the majority of the folks posting about this on Twitter/X have never even listened to Patti's or Luther's music, and haven't seen the doc.

[reese]

I don't really get the criticism. Luther was already long gone after she did that interview with Andy Cohen, and at the time, from my memory, there were no bombshell headlines after that interview, about her revealing Luther's sexuality. Yes, he never wanted to go public with that, but it was always the elephant in the room. I see some articles now that there's some upset in Patti's camp because she interviewed for the doc and they didn't use her segment and used the Andy Cohen interview clip instead, making her seem like she was a gossipy ex-friend, instead of her being able to speak to his talent, etc., like I know she did. Now everybody is reacting to those headlines and are up in arms, accusing her of outing him. Honestly, at this point, it doesn't really matter. These days, people on the internet want to be upset about everything. I bet the majority of the folks posting about this on Twitter/X have never even listened to Patti's or Luther's music, and haven't seen the doc.

I remember a lot of negative feedback on Facebook towards Patti when she did the interview with Andy Cohen. At the time, I think a lot of it came from people who didnt like Patti anyway. If it had been one of their faves who had spoken with Andy, I think some of them would have been more forgiving. I've gone back and forth over it myself and in the end, although I'm sure Patti meant no harm, I believe it wasn't her business to tell.

That said, I thought the filmmakers did Patti a disservice by placing her clip right after Richard Marx criticized what he felt were some of Luther's so-called friends. They conveniently ignored the fact that not long after Luther's death, OUT magazine published an article on Luther with quotes from Bruce Vilanche and Michael Musto that revealed much more than Patti ever did.

[Boogiedown]

CNN didn't make this documentary. They had nothing to do with it...they only aired it, after the film finished making its initial premieres at the various film festivals and after it completed its run in theaters. I watched the documentary over a year ago, before it aired on CNN.

Ah , OK. I'll rephrase it, figures this crap would wind up as something CNN would air.

[jack020]

After a few of his solo albums, an English music magazine [[Black Echoes?) published an interview with Luther and it said he had a David Hockney painting hanging on his wall. I knew then he was gay.

[Boogiedown]

Patti must have been thinking,
“huh?, this is some kind of secret?”

[jack020]

Saw it last night: quite some clips I had never seen before but I did not understand the beginning. Luther mentioned that he wanted to rehearse his favorite ballad of the album and then they started Aint No Stopping Us Now, surely not a ballad!

[paladin]

Recorded it but haven't watched it yet ! I shall return after...:-)

[Motown Eddie]

Saw it last night: quite some clips I had never seen before but I did not understand the beginning. Luther mentioned that he wanted to rehearse his favorite ballad of the album and then they started Aint No Stopping Us Now, surely not a ballad!

I noticed that too and it doesn't make any sense since "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" is not a ballad. It looks like there was some editing done to the documentary in order to make it fit on CNN [along with the commercials they ran].

[carlo]

I thought it was just Luther joking around? Similar to how Diana Ross used to introduce in The Supremes' shows, "The next song is a soft sweet ballad from West Side Story..." And the band would play an uptempo number like, "The Happening" instead.

[Motown Eddie]

I thought it was just Luther joking around?

I didn't consider that before however, it's possible that was Luther was just joking when he introduced "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" as a ballad.

[sansradio]

I thought it was just Luther joking around? Similar to how Diana Ross used to introduce in The Supremes' shows, "The next song is a soft sweet ballad from West Side Story..." And the band would play an uptempo number like, "The Happening" instead.

Exactly what I thought, though I haven't seen it yet. And Luther was a major Ross devotee.

[9A]

FYI -- The documentary "Luther: Never Too Much" will be repeated twice on CNN tomorrow evening, Sunday, Jan. 12.

We recently watched it and thought it was good. I ended up feeling sad for Vandross. He seems to have been such a tormented individual, who was so talented, and died way too young.