Your Secret Love – Luther Vandross | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#52) & R&B (#15); 1996
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Luther Vandross was making some serious money doing studio vocal and commercial jingle work so when the producer of Change asked him to take some leads, Luther wanted to make sure his new role wouldn’t jeopardize his solid income.
He stepped up on Searching and The Glow Of Love and – even though they didn’t sell well – radio deejays began mentioning his name. That acknowledgement prodded Luther into making a demo that included a track which became his first #1 record: Never Too Much. Luther stayed with his solo gig, consistently cracking the R&B Top 10, and scoring six more #1’s between 1987 and 1992.
Except for Endless Love, a smash duet with Mariah Carey in 1994, Luther’s recording career cooled off for four years. Then, in 1996, he returned to the R&B Top 5 with Your Secret Love.
Written with Philip Vertelney, who’d also co-composed 1994’s Heaven Knows, Your Secret Love won Luther a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance – Male.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Luther Vandross
Lyrics Written by:
- L. Vandross
- Reed Vertelney
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).