(February 28, 2025). The news of Roberta Flack’s death on Monday (2/24) came just as Billboard announced that Kendrick Lamar & SZA had climbed to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with their rap ballad “Luther.” Anyone paying attention knows that “Luther” is a tribute to the legendary Luther Vandross, which samples his and Cheryl Lynn’s classic duet “If This World Were Mine,” itself a remake of a 1967 duet between the late Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
But the connections between “Luther” hitting No. 1 on the very day that Flack died go far deeper than a common calendar date. They offer a glimpse into the eerie ties that can bind seemingly unrelated characters and events separated by nearly half a century in ways that are too uncanny to be believable.
But in this case, the connections are real, as this blog will explain.
First, many diehard Luther fans know that the legendary singer longed to have a No. 1 Hot 100 song for the bulk of his career… a feat he never achieved in his lifetime. The closest he came was in a 1994 duet with Mariah Carey on a remake of Diana Ross & Lionel Richie’s No. 1 pop and soul smash, “Endless Love.” Ross happened to be one of the singers Vandross idolized growing up. But it was his work as a backup singer for Flack that sprung him into a solo career that gave us “Never Too Much,” the song that became his first No. 1 on the soul chart the same month (October 1981) the original “Endless Love” ended its No. 1 run there.
“Never Too Much” may never have existed had it not been for Flack recognizing that Vandross didn’t belong in anyone’s background and instead needed to start his own solo career, which he did at her urging.
The last album Vandross recorded with Roberta was her 1980 project that was intended to be a full duet album with Donny Hathaway. Vandross provided vocals and was the background vocal arranger on multiple tracks, including the album’s most recognizable single “Back Together Again.”
On that song, Vandross and others gave a jubilant performance that found them in a call-and-response with Flack & Hathaway, including following the lead singers’ line “we can make it real” where Vandross and company exclaim “Got to be real!” That was Luther’s nod to the debut song by former Gong Show contestant Cheryl Lynn, his future duet partner on “If This World Were Mine.”
But here’s where things really get weird. Cheryl’s “Got To Be Real” became her first No. 1 on the soul chart the first week of January 1979, relinquishing the top spot on the chart dated January 13. January 13, 1979, was also the day that Hathaway reportedly laid down his final vocal tracks for “Back Together Again” and his other single for Flack’s album “You Are My Heaven.”
It was later that same day that the troubled singer was found dead, having fallen from the 15th floor of the Essex House Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where they had been recording.
So this week’s crowning of “Luther” by Kendrick and SZA — on the same day that his mentor Flack died — is like a full-circle moment for Luther. It puts his name at the top of the Hot 100 for the first time — albeit in a song title and not as a credited artist. His vocals — and Cheryl Lynn’s — are prominently featured in the “Luther” sample of “If This World Were Mine.” Cheryl’s dethroning on the Billboard Soul chart with “Got To Be Real” on the same week that Hathaway died provides an eerie connection to the refrain from one of the very last songs he recorded.
The connections between these people and this week’s events is uncanny… the kind that one could never have dreamed up years ago. Just goes to show that we’re never more than a few degrees of separation from one another.
For Vandross, having his name associated with a No. 1 Hot 100 song — if only in title — feels like a long-overdue triumph. He spent his career chasing that elusive pop chart-topper, coming closest with “Endless Love” alongside Mariah Carey. But there was another moment when he was just one credit away from claiming that milestone.
“You Are My Heaven” — the last song Donny Hathaway ever recorded — was co-written by Stevie Wonder, the same legend who took “Part-Time Lover” to No. 1 in 1985. Luther’s unmistakable voice is there, backing Stevie up, but without a featured credit. Had he received one, it would have been his first and only No. 1 Hot 100 hit.
And the strange connections continue…
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
You can also register for free (select the menu bars above) to receive notifications of future articles.