Happy 70th Birthday Luther Vandross, from Google!

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Google is paying tribute to R&B legend Luther Vandross on what would have been his 70th birthday.

On Tuesday, Google's homepage featured a video Doodle of an animated Vandross singing his 1981 hit, "Never Too Much." The video shows Vandross playing the piano and performing on stages and arenas, sharing his remarkable vocals with the world.

"It is a true reflection of Luther Vandross’s musical legacy around the world to be honored by Google with an animated video Doodle that fittingly captures the joy Luther has brought the world," reads a statement from the Vandross family on Google.com.

"Luther made each of his songs about one simple, universal subject -- love; an emotion and feeling common to the human experience no matter who you are, where you’re from or what you look like," the statement continues. "No one else has expressed this emotion, in song, at the level Luther did for over 35 years. To have Google broadcast that around the world is a wonderful showcase of his immeasurable talent."

Born on this day in 1951 in New York, Vandross' 1981 Grammy-nominated debut album, Never Too Much, sold over one million copies. He earned eight career Grammys total, including Best R&B Album for 2003's Dance with My Father, and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014. 

Luther Vandross died of a heart attack on July 1, 2005 at age 54.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 1:00PM by Rachel George Permalink