A musical paragon was recently uncovered from the vaults of the Luther Vandross Estate – a never-before-heard rendition of The Beatles’ song “Michelle.”
CNN Entertainment reports that the cassette tape featuring the cover was simply labeled June 1, 1989. A new music video debuted on YouTube on November 21. Watch below:
Details surrounding the recording remain a mystery. The finished song was found by longtime friend and backing vocalist of Vandross, Fonzi Thornton, while visiting Vandross’ family to search through musical archives.
The video, directed by Darrin James, was inspired by the French New Wave era and Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” when creating this visual accompaniment; James said he was aiming for the visuals to be “scrappy and ingenuitive.”
The video opens on two individuals seemingly staring at each other. As the camera closes in on the woman’s face, the title card pops up and the official video begins.
The individuals are seen as a couple living together in a small, but cozy, apartment. As the man starts playing a tape labeled “Michelle,” the woman begins dancing towards him slowly and seductively. The small scraps-of-life moments we see in the video pair perfectly with Vandross’ iconically impassioned vocals; this couple is deeply, deeply in love and only Vandross’ vocals can properly depict the passion they have for one another. There’s even an Easter egg in which the couple is watching an old performance of Vandross’.
The man starts filming his lover, who dances throughout their apartment and smiles a reserved yet inviting smile. The video follows the two through date night, showing the viewer how the couple moves through the city at a leisurely speed, taking in the sights and sounds with the person they love most. The video ends with the two having a candlelit dinner back in their apartment as the screen fades to black.
The discovery of this track adds to a lengthy catalog of musical milestones that solidified Vandross as an R&B genre-defining artist. As an eight-time GRAMMY winner, Vandross had collaborated with artists such as Dionne Warwick, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey.
Vandross’ cover of “Michelle” will be featured on Never Too Much: Greatest Hits, a compilation from Sony Music available December 13.
“Michelle,” originally written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, won the GRAMMY Award for song of the year in 1967. Vandross’ rendition transformed the original by adding a slower, more soulful romance with layers of background vocals.
“He was a boss from the beginning. He had a vision and an idea of how he wanted it to go down, and that’s how it went down,” Thornton, who met Vandross at 15, reflected on their early days together.
Vandross passed away in 2005 at the age of 54. His life and entertaining career are celebrated in the upcoming CNN film Luther: Never Too Much, directed by Dawn Porter. The film will premiere on January 1, 2025, at 8 PM ET/PT on CNN.
The news of this cover comes just a few weeks after the George Harrison estate shared a previously unheard rendition of “Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond),” and just about month after Paul McCartney performed “Now and Then” live for the first time.
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