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The Black Ensemble Theater is getting ready to start its 35th season in Chicago, and announced a lineup of shows including “Luther,” a musical tribute to Luther Vandross that will run from May 6th to June 24th in 2012. The show was written by Jasmine Coles and will be directed by the theater’s associate director, Daryl Brooks. For additional information, you can read more at the Chicago Sun-Times and visit BlackEnsembleTheater.org.

Author Caryl Phillips has included Luther Vandross in one of his essays collected for his new book, “Colour Me English.” The book deals with notions of identity and belonging, starting with Phillips growing up in England, moving on to his experiences in America, and his travels around the world. He considers the lives and work of figures including Luther, as well as Chinua Achebe, James Baldwin, Billie Holiday and others, and how their experiences are refracted through the prisms of writing, music and cinema.

The book is now available for purchase at retailers including Amazon.com.

Fans of Luther Vandross, be the first in America to experience Spotify! Spotify is currently available in the U.S. by invitation only, but you are one of the lucky few to get access. All you need to do to create your free Spotify account is follow this VIP invitation link from Legacy Recordings.

Once you’ve created your free Spotify account, you can listen to your favorite artists and add them to your personal playlists. We hope you enjoy!

Spotify is the award-winning music platform that gives you on-demand access to over 15 million tracks in high-quality audio, wherever you go. Whether you’re searching for the hottest new releases or hits from the past, your favorite tracks are just a click away. If you’d like to learn more, come this way.

On this day in 2005, the world lost Luther Vandross at the age of 54. In remembrance, we’re looking back at Luther in 1981, when he made one of the greatest solo debuts in music history. Luther produced the album “Never Too Much,” which included his remarkable cover of “A House Is Not A Home,” along with other stellar songs like “Don’t You Know That.” You can watch Luther’s music video for “Never Too Much” below.

New York’s The Village Voice has rated some of the best cover versions in music history, and guess who came in at #1? Columnist Michael Musto rated Luther Vandross’ rendition of “A House Is Not A Home” as the best cover performance, noting “Luther remade this wrenching Bacharach/David ballad into a three-act opera filled with dramatics, scat eruptions, and one very dramatic pause.”

You can read more of the complete list at VillageVoice.com.

Rolling Stone recently asked its readers to vote for their favorite R&B/soul singer of all time. It’s no surprise that Luther Vandross hit the Top 10. You can read the magazine’s notes about Luther, and watch his performance of “Here And Now” in the video shown below.

In celebration of what would have been Luther Vandross’ 60th birthday, we invite you to listen to the Songza Luther Vandross Radio station! Be sure to leave a comment to let us know your favorite Luther Vandross songs as well as any other songs or artists that you think were inspired by him, and we will add them to the playlist.

Also, you can go to the Luther Vandross Official Facebook page to leave a birthday message and share your Luther Vandross memories.

In honor of Luther’s birthday, “Luther Vandross: The Collection” is being featured at a special price of $29.98 $15.59 USD this week only at Pop Market.

Before his passing in 2005, Luther created a lifetime of musical memories for a generation of listeners. Most of us heard him first singing backup on David Bowie’s “Young Americans,” but it was his string of smash hits for Epic in the ’80s (and his Grammy-winning comeback for J in 2004) that brought him enduring fame. Here’s one of our favorite photos of the great one.

Newark’s The Star-Ledger newspaper has chosen Luther Vandross’ rendition of “A House Is Not A Home” as its Song of the Day. The newspaper specifically cites Luther’s performance of the song at the NAACP Image Awards in 1988:

“A House Is Not a Home” was, of course, one of the standards of Luther Vandross’ repertoire, and in this performance, at the 1988 NAACP Image Awards,he really nails it, casually building a warm connection with the audience and somehow dazzling with his technique without ever seeming to show off. This should be required viewing for all “American Idol” contestants.

You can read more at The Star-Ledger website.

CBS is reinstating Luther Vandross as the voice of “One Shining Moment” as the network’s NCAA Tournament tradition celebrates its 25th anniversary next Monday night. Harold Bryant, CBS Sports’ vice president for production, said network executives elected to go back to Luther’s version, which was used for seven years before CBS rolled out a new version by Jennifer Hudson in 2010. “Both versions are great,” he said. “She (Hudson) did a great job. We just felt like we wanted to go back to Luther.” You can read more at The Houston Chronicle website.

Send a special message straight from the heart to the loved ones in your life! Click here to customize a special Luther Vandross E-card and spread the love for Valentine’s Day and all year-round!