VANDROSS MOM PUTS HEART & SOUL INTO HIS RECOVERY

Publish date: 2024-05-08

With the release of his latest and most personal album coming on Tuesday, Luther Vandross is showing signs of recovery from a debilitating stroke, the singer’s mother said.

Mary Vandross said her son was trying to form words last week and has become more responsive. She said he is able to respond to “yes” and “no” questions.

“He had his face turned to the window, and I called him,” Mary said. “He turned his head to the sound of my voice. I told him I was there, and he just stared at me.”

It was his mother that Luther called out for when his housekeeper discovered him on April 16 in his Manhattan apartment.

“Get my mama. Call my mama,” he cried out as the housekeeper ran for help.

The Vandross story is one of unwavering faith, of the special bond between a mother and son. It is also a story of shared tragedy. Luther, 52, is Mary’s youngest and only living child.

Luther’s father, Luther Sr., died of complications from diabetes when Luther was 7. Luther’s brother, Charles, and sister, Patricia, both died of complications from diabetes; his other sister, Ann, died of complications from asthma.

“When you start losing your children, you look at your situation and you say, ‘What have I done in my life to deserve this,’ ” Mary told The Post. “But I know my grace is sufficient. He’s going to come through by the grace of God.”

Three days a week, Mary, 79, travels from her Philadelphia home to her son’s bedside in the intensive-care unit at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University on the Upper East Side.

There, in a room filled with balloons, banners, cards and compact discs (no flowers are allowed for medical reasons), she holds her son’s hand and speaks to him softly, playing music from Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and, of course, some of his own.

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