We Remember Luther Vandross

[DELTABRAT]

LUTHER VANDROSS SUFFERS STROKE
His condition is not currently known.

*Soul balladeer Luther Vandross has suffered a stroke, his
record label said today. In a statement, J Records says Luther
was stricken on Wednesday and is under medical care and
his family is with him.
It's not currently know just how severe the stroke is,
nor is it known where he's hospitalized
Vandross, a five-time Grammy winner's 52nd birthday is
this Sunday. EUR will have more on this story as circumstances
warrant. In the meantime, it goes without saying that we should
all say a special prayer for Luther

[treblk]

Yea, aint it horrible.
What would music do with out Lutha!!

[CrimsonTide4]

Vandross update
Singer Luther Vandross, who turned 52 on Sunday, was resting
comfortably in a New York hospital after suffering a stroke Wednesday
at his Manhattan home, said Lois Najarian, a spokeswoman at his
record label, J Records. Najarian declined to discuss the extent of
the stroke, or whether the R&B singer's motor skills had been
impaired. Najarian said the singer, who has suffered from diabetes
and hypertension, had been in good health and recently completed work
on a new album.

[stardusttwin]

Patti LaBelle was on Good Day live (Fox) today and she said she spoke to Luther's mother this morning and he is doing much better and asked for continued prayers. Patti also said not to believe the reports that Luther is unable to talk and lost the ability to sing.

[CrimsonTide4]

Blessings!

I just received information re: the health and condition of Luther
Vandross. Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed this morning over the air on Tom Joyner and he along with Aretha Franklin are asking all of the saints to pray for Luther. His condition is more serious than they have released through his press assistant and hospital reps.

We always forward funny, cute and sill email. Let's use the power that we have at our fingertips to spread the word that Wednesday, April 23rd at noon that his family and friends along with the 120 radio stations, local ministers, and congregations will be praying for his health and recovery.

[Gyrl7]

Originally posted by DELTABRAT
LUTHER VANDROSS SUFFERS STROKE
His condition is not currently known.

*Soul balladeer Luther Vandross has suffered a stroke, his
record label said today. In a statement, J Records says Luther
was stricken on Wednesday and is under medical care and
his family is with him.
It's not currently know just how severe the stroke is,
nor is it known where he's hospitalized
Vandross, a five-time Grammy winner's 52nd birthday is
this Sunday. EUR will have more on this story as circumstances
warrant. In the meantime, it goes without saying that we should
all say a special prayer for Luther

He is at NY Presbyterian Hospital.....I hope he is alright

[zetafg]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
Blessings!

I just received information re: the health and condition of Luther
Vandross. Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed this morning over the air on Tom Joyner and he along with Aretha Franklin are asking all of the saints to pray for Luther. His condition is more serious than they have released through his press assistant and hospital reps.

We always forward funny, cute and sill email. Let's use the power that we have at our fingertips to spread the word that Wednesday, April 23rd at noon that his family and friends along with the 120 radio stations, local ministers, and congregations will be praying for his health and recovery.

Seeing this just puts tears in my eyes.

I will be praying with everyone and I'll pass the word around too!

[CrimsonTide4]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Musi...eut/index.html

[AKA2D '91]

He has been downgraded to critical.

[ladygreek]

Oh no.

[zetafg]

The Power of Prayer is Awesome!

There was a moment of silence for Luther on WBLS 107.5 FM at Noon, and they played Luther's "Power of Love".

With tears in my eyes, I said my prayer for him along with everyone else.

I Trust in the Lord that he will be fine.

[CrimsonTide4]

NEW YORK (AP) - Luther Vandross contracted pneumonia after suffering a stroke and had to undergo a tracheotomy to help him breathe, but the procedure didn't damage his vocal chords, his representatives said Monday.

The Grammy-winning singer remains in critical but stable condition, and spokeswoman Lois Najarian told The Associated Press: "We expected him to be out of intensive care right now."

His business manager, Carmen Romano, released a statement Monday confirming that Vandross suffered pneumonia during his hospitalization and had to have a tracheotomy, a procedure in which a hole is made in the throat and a tube is inserted to assist breathing.

"The tracheotomy was performed in a manner in which his vocal chords were not affected or damaged," Romano said.

Najarian said it was unclear whether the tube had been removed.

Vandross, 52, had a stroke April 16 at his Manhattan home; he was alone for hours before being discovered, Najarian said. He's been hospitalized at Weill-Cornell Medical College.

Romano also said Vandross is minimally responsive neurologically "and we're waiting for him to regain full consciousness. I am told that this may take some time."

Najarian said Vandross hadn't opened his eyes or spoken since his stroke and "he's had to fight off quite a few infections."

"There was a real feeling that he would have regained consciousness by now," she said.

Najarian said doctors haven't been able to determine whether Vandross suffered any permanent neurological damage from the stroke, such as paralysis.

As for his prognosis, she said: "I think it's a day-to-day analysis of the situation; no one really knows what to expect."

Vandross has sold more than 20 million albums in the United States alone, and his hits include the love ballads "Here and Now" and "A House Is Not a Home."

His new album, "Dance With My Father," is scheduled for release in June.

[zetafg]

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please Give Luther the strength and the will to live. Dear Father please give him the will to fight off all infections that are trying to take over his body.

Dear Father please bring him back to his family and friends.

All these blessings I ask in Your Name

AMEN.

[CrimsonTide4]

By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 1, 2003; Page C01


NEW YORK, April 30 -- Doctors treating Luther Vandross are waiting for the singer to achieve fuller consciousness so they can determine the extent of neurological damage he suffered from a stroke two weeks ago, the singer's spokeswoman said today.

Vandross, 52, remained in critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit at the Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Hickenbottom said. He has been in the ICU since the April 16 stroke felled him inside his apartment overlooking Central Park. He has never returned to full consciousness. Though he is breathing on his own and not on life-support machines, he is being fed intravenously, said Lois Najarian, a spokeswoman for Vandross.

Najarian rebutted reports that the Grammy-winning singer is comatose. Neurological tests have shown him to have some mental responsiveness, but at a level doctors classify as "minimally responsive," she said.

"He is, I would say, not in a state of full consciousness to the point where they could tell what kind of impairment there is, what paralysis if any, how his speech might be affected," said Najarian, also a vice president of J Records, Vandross's label.

"There's no prognosis because they're still waiting for him to become more alert."

It isn't even clear whether the singer is able to recognize people.

"There was a day, early on, when he did open his eyes and he looked at people and squeezed their hands and there was a sense that he recognized them," Najarian said. But she doesn't know for sure.

Fans of the buttery-voiced balladeer, whose love songs have been the soundtracks of relationships smooth and stormy since the 1980s, have been on edge in recent days as the seriousness of his condition has been revealed. Prayer vigils have been held on the airwaves for Vandross, and Najarian said today in an interview, "I think Luther can use as many prayers as possible." He is surrounded by his mother, Mary Ida Vandross, his nieces and his longtime friend and business manager Carmen Romano, said Najarian.

Published reports have placed Vandross close to death. Though doctors attending Vandross apparently are not commenting on his condition and care, Najarian said the confusion may be due to the up-and-down state of things. He has been on antibiotics to treat various infections, and when pneumonia set in, he underwent a tracheotomy.

"It's been a real roller coaster," Najarian said. Nonetheless, she said, "the feeling that we're all getting is a very hopeful one, that he turned the corner in terms of being life or death.

"Of course, anything can happen," she added.

And whatever does happen, Vandross's latest CD, a memorial to his father, will be released as scheduled in June. Despite the touch-and-go nature of his condition, Vandross's family wants the release of "Dance With My Father" to go forward, Najarian said.

Vandross described the work as his "best album to date," Najarian recalled. It is based on his memories of his father, who died of diabetes when Vandross was 8 years old. Vandross's mother told the Tom Joyner radio program on Monday that she also had lost two other children from complications of the disease.

Vandross's first album, released in 1981, went platinum, and his gentle, spiritual personality helped to gain him a wide, loyal fan base. His health has long been a public affair. He has spoken plainly about his struggle with his weight, and has experienced dramatic fluctuations in size.

Three years ago he dropped from a high of 340 pounds to 220. He expressed thankfulness for his achievement on the ABC News program "20/20" in February of last year.

"I've never been more healthy than I am now," he said. "I wish I was this healthy when I was 25."


© 2003 The Washington Post Company

[zetafg]

Thank You for the update CT4.

Yesterday on WBLS Wendy Williams show, someone sent in a funky fax asking why she wasn't talking about Luthers death and I was almost in tears and shock, then Wendy said in a serious FUNKY tone, that Luther is NOT dead!!!

*deep sigh*

I continue to keep him and his family in my prayers.