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.

Carey’s “#Beautiful” Debuts Strong on Several Billboard Charts

It’s a #Beautiful start on the Billboard charts for Mariah Carey’s latest single…

The 43-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer has soared onto several of Billboard‘s Nielsen BDS-based airplay tallies with #Beautiful,” featuring Miguel.

Mariah Carey

The song debuts on the following charts: Pop Songs (No. 22); Adult Contemporary (No. 23); Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop (No. 29); and Adult Pop Songs (No. 35).

Coordinated airplay on Clear Channel stations aided the song’s first week. Beginning at 7 a.m. EST on Monday, May 6 (the first day of the chart tracking week), “#Beautiful” played at the top of each hour until 11:00 pm on approximately 230 Clear Channel outlets.

Still, stations in other chains played “#Beautiful” over its first seven days of availability, including CBS Radio-owned Pop Songs panelists WBBM Chicago (61 spins), WNOW New York and KMVQ San Francisco (32 each).

With the bow of “#Beautiful,” the lead single from Carey’s forthcoming 13th studio album, due this summer, Carey ups her count to 30 Pop Songs entries dating to the chart’s Oct. 3, 1992, launch, tying Britney Spears for the second-most appearances. Only Rihanna (35) has tallied more visits.

The song’s debut rank is Carey’s third-best, trailing only the starts of “Dreamlover” (the list’s all-time top starter: No. 12 in 1993) and “Endless Love,” with Luther Vandross (No. 20, 1994).

Meanwhile, Miguel makes his second appearance on Pop Songs. He previously charted with “Adorn,” which reached No. 35 in December.

Anthony Going Country?

He may be one of the best selling tropical salsa artists of all time… But Marc Anthony is about to go country.

The 43-year-old Puerto Rican singer/songwriter will join some of today’s biggest country music stars for a special concert to honor Lionel Richie.

Marc Anthony

Dubbed ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert, the concert will feature artists like Darius Rucker and Big & Rich singing Richie’s greatest hits. Anthony will join voices with Sara Evans to perform “Endless Love.” Big & Rich will deliver “Brick House“, while Rucker is expected to do a duet with Richie on “Stuck on You“, a song he re-recorded for his recently released album Tuskegee.

Other scheduled performers include Jason Aldean singing “Say You Say Me,” The Band Perry performing “Penny Lover” and Lady Antebellum delivering their rendition of “Truly.”

Taped earlier this week at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert will air on Friday, April 13 on CBS.