Honey-voiced crooner Luther Vandross would have turned 60 today, had he not died (alas) in 2005. Never in perfect health, Vandross had a stroke and lapsed into a coma in 2003, snapped out of it long enough to collect accolades (and Grammys) for his album Dance With My Father in 2004, then passed on in 2005.
Luther Vandross was born in 1951 in New York City — just nine days, for what it’s worth, before racing legend Dale Earnhardt. There is no evidence the two men ever crossed paths.
See photos of an even skinnier Luther Vandross >>
{ photo: WENN }