Stars turn out for Luther Vandross funeral
Hundreds of fans, family and A-list celebrities braved New York’s grey skies today to pay their last respects to R&B legend Luther Vandross.
Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle sat alongside Usher and Alicia Keys to celebrate the crooner’s life at the Riverside Church in Harlem.
His gold coffin sat at the foot of the alter as an array of stars gave emotional performances before ending with a rendition of his hit single Power of Love/Love Power.
Vandross, who won eight Grammy Awards, died last Friday aged 54. Doctors said he never fully recovered from a stroke in 2003.
Franklin, dressed in a white suit with a white hat perched on her head, received rapturous applause for her version of Amazing Grace.
The congregation clapped, waved their arms in the air and danced in the aisles as she ad-libbed the final verses to address the Vandross family.
“There are no sad faces here today,” said close friend LaBelle, decked out in a bright yellow dress. “It’s not a mournful service. I’m celebrating because Luther would want us to.”
One of the singer’s nine nieces said she and the rest of the family were wearing white as Vandross would not have wanted anyone to mourn.
LaBelle read a poem written by the icon’s mother, Mary Ida, which thanked him for looking after her his whole life as he had always promised.
Vandross’s father died when the singer was a young boy, and he won a Grammy award last year with the hit song Dance with My Father.
Today, singer Dionne Warwick told the congregation: “We should be happy for Luther. He made a difference in this life and now has the wonderful opportunity to dance with his father again.”
Wonder wowed the crowd with his version of the gospel song I Won’t Complain before Cissy Houston performed another gospel classic Deep River.
Before the televised service, fans lined the route in the pouring rain as the singer’s funeral procession passed slowly through Harlem.
The hearse paused outside the Apollo Theatre where, before hitting stardom, Vandross had twice finished second at its famed amateur night.
Since Wednesday, hundreds had queued for one last glimpse of the singer’s body at a public viewing in a Manhattan funeral chapel.
He will be buried at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.
