Luther Vandross’s Power of Love Tour Jacket Goes on View at the Rock Hall
Before Luther Vandross enters the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, a piece of his stage wardrobe is already telling part of his story in Cleveland. The Hall’s 2026 inductees exhibit includes a custom Dior jacket he wore on the Power of Love Tour in 1991 and 1992. It places an object audiences once saw from across an arena close enough to study as a piece of stagecraft.
The Voice Behind the Jacket
The Rock Hall’s artist profile traces Vandross’s work back to the years before his name topped the bill. He sang backing vocals, wrote and arranged, and collaborated with David Bowie on Young Americans. Their song “Fascination” grew out of a Vandross composition. Listeners who know him first through the ballads can hear another side of his work there.
His 1981 solo debut, Never Too Much, makes an especially good companion to the exhibit. The title song puts his own writing out front. On the same record, he stretches “A House Is Not a Home,” associated with Dionne Warwick, into a performance that turns a familiar melody into a conversation. Both sides of his career belong in the story of the singer who eventually wore that jacket.
When to Watch
The exhibit is in Cleveland. The induction ceremony tapes Saturday, November 14th, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. For Baltimore viewers, ABC’s holiday schedule lists the three-hour broadcast for Tuesday, December 8th, from 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern. Vandross is being inducted in the Performer category. For more voices from the late-night side of R&B, hear Power1047’s What My Heart Needs playlist.
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