Luther Vandross headed to R&R Hall of Fame with Oasis, Sade, more

The late, great R&B singer Luther Vandross grew up in New York.

But he was an adopted son of Detroit.

For decades, Detroit was a leading market for the velvet-voiced Vandross, a singer-songwriter-arranger who launched his career with background session work and theatrical gigs before blossoming into one of R&B’s leading men in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Vandross, who died in 2005, is one of eight artists headed into the hall of fame’s performers wing, alongside Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, Sade and Wu-Tang Clan.

Now Vandross is headed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, part of a 2026 class of inductees revealed Monday night (April 13) live on “American Idol.” The hall of fame ceremony is set for Nov.

His hit songs became a romantic soundtrack for the era, as Vandross crossed over from urban stardom to mainstream success.

"The feeling of the music is always the first thing," he told the Detroit Free Press in 2001.

"Most of the songs are about love, at the core of their meaning.

It's like, let's take love as a general heading, then find the infinite number of ways it can be expressed." Vandross briefly attended Western Michigan University at the turn of the 1970s, but he dropped out of college to pursue a music career, landing work with a vast and diverse cast of artists, including David Bowie, Barbra Streisand and Motown acts such as Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye.

By the ’80s, Vandross was a powerhouse solo artist, regularly cranking out hits across the R&B and pop charts.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction ceremony will be held Nov.

14 at L.A.’s Peacock Theater, taped for broadcast to the wider public in December on ABC-TV and Disney+.

Officials also confirmed Monday that the 2027 induction ceremony will return to Cleveland, site of the rock hall’s museum.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.