LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH A Review
by Karen Pecota

Dawn Porter | United Kingdom | USA | 2024

Documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter presents a fitting love letter to the world sharing the life and legacy of Luther Vandross in LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH. Porter eloquently takes her audience on an exploratory journey giving credence to Vandross and his investment of love that transpired in the music industry. Porter is honored to be the first to tell this incredible story of one of the greatest vocalists to ever live giving credit where credit is due. Her only regret is that he did not receive the recognition while he was still alive. Vandross passed away at the age of fifty-one from a sudden stroke.

Influenced by iconic female vocalists of the ‘60s, Luther Vandross collaborated with some of the greatest artists of our time and earnestly gleaned from their craft to perfect his own.

Here following is just a sliver of Vandross’s accomplishments over his short life span: He received eight Grammy Awards and thirty-three Grammy nominations. He received eleven consecutive platinum albums and sold over fifty million records worldwide. Three of Vandross’s songs, “Never Too Much,” “Here and Now,”and “Dance with My Father” earned him a place in the timeless classics, also gaining platinum recognition. Many still melt when his duet with Mariah Carey reaches the air waves in the song, “Endless Love”.

Known as a master of the love song genre of music, Vandross never married or had children or even a long-term partner; but Porter notes, “He never gave up on love. We may never know how he experienced love, but we know that he understood it.” His love songs spoke to a joyous, pure and harmonious way of living which he exemplified. Porter adds, “Vandross knows what he was born to do. He sings about love not sex, and he revealed the distinction—love is pure and joyful from (human) connection, admiration and belonging.”

Porter’s documentary examines the steady rise of Vandross as a vocal virtuoso and the cost of his genius. Maybe you remember his early beginnings as a member of the singing group ensemble Listen My Brother, seen on Sesame Street. Or the fact that David Bowie gives Vandross his big break during a studio session. It happened when he sang background vocals and then arranged Bowie’s iconic Young Americans album.

Vandross was instrumental in pouring love into his work, family, other musicians and into the music itself. A remarkable artist we see in LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH.