Mariah Carey Appears in Luther Vandross Documentary “Luther: Never Too Much”

Mariah Carey is making a special cameo to highlight a legendary singer…

The first trailer has been released for Luther: Never Too Much, a documentary that features an appearance by the 54-year-old half-Venezuelan Grammy-winning singer, ahead of the film’s world premiere on Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Mariah CareyDawn Porter directs the film about the late Luther Vandross, widely considered one of the greatest vocalists in recording industry history but whose talents as a songwriter have gone under-recognized.

As the film explores, early in his career Vandross became a much sought after background singer – performing with Barbra Streisand, RobertaFlack, Bette Midler and other big names – and became a major success of a singer of television jingles (for Juicy Fruit gum, Miller beer, among other products).

He carefully crafted his own solo career, building it around hits he wrote himself including “Power of Love,” “Any Love,” and “Never Too Much.”

Luther: Never Too Much… chronicles the story of a vocal virtuoso,” notes a description of the film, which debuts in the Premieres section of Sundance. “Using a wealth of rarely seen archives, Luther tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and musical collaborators including Carey, who performed “Endless Love” with him, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Flack. The film relives the many stunning moments of Luther’s musical career, while exploring his unrequited love life, health struggles, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect his music deserved.”

 

Luther: Never Too Much is an acquisition title at Sundance, with Sony Music Entertainment handling sales. A section of the film is devoted to Vandross’s collaboration with David Bowie on the latter’s 1975 album Young Americans. Vandross began by doing background vocals on the project, but his role expanded as Bowie recognized the breadth of his gifts.

“Luther arranges the entire album with David Bowie — as a 20-something year old kid,” Porter told Deadline in an interview at Sundance. “And then he takes Luther on tour with him. And so when you see the generosity of an artist like David Bowie, and you think about that kind of combination of sounds, that is what music and art is all about. These artists, they’re responding to what inspires them. And I feel like that’s kind of something we could all think about. We’re thinking a lot about our differences and these artists, they’re showing us how we’re the same.”

Click here to see the official trailer on Deadline.com.

Mariah Carey Releases Ms. Lauryn Hill Collaboration “Save the Day”

It’s a new Day for Mariah Carey, and she’s getting an assist from a fellow star.

The 50-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer has joined voices with Ms. Lauryn Hill on the new track “Save the Day.”

Mariah Carey

It’s the first release from Carey’s double-disc archival deep dive The Rarities (out October 2), which will be released shortly after the launch of her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey (out September 29).

With heartfelt, affecting vocals delivering a timely message (“We’re in this together”; “it’s curious, the fear still holding us down”), a few classic Mimi high notes and a sick beat drop courtesy Jermaine Dupri that accompanies the entrance of Hill’s voice (sampled from the FugeesGrammy-winning “Killing Me Softly With His Song“), “Save the Day” is everything Carey’s fans love.

On a Zoom listening party with fans, journalists and friends just hours ahead of the song’s release, Carey said she’s always been a fan of Roberta Flack‘s original recording of the song and that the Fugees’ version was her “go-to record” back in the ’90s while on tour.

“I love Lauryn, I think she’s an incredible artist,” Carey said. “I was happy that Lauryn wanted to do this moment with me…. I only wanted to do it with her approval and excitement.”