He was the heartbeat of R&B during the 1980s and 1990s, yet led a productive singing and songwriting life prior to this preeminence. The soul balladeer's strong commitment to the art of music continued on its Grammy-winning course even after an acute stroke in 2003 left him severely incapacitated and unable to continue public appearances. Luther Ronzoni Vandross was born in New York in 1951, the baby of four children. His father, also named Luther, was an upholsterer who died of diabetes whe ...[Read Story]