Dance With My Father

Album: Dance With My Father (2003)
Charted: 21 38
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • With help from Richard Marx, Luther Vandross wrote this song shortly after he suffered a stroke that eventually killed him two years later. The song is a tribute to his late father, and very poignant as it was one of Luther's last songs. His father died when he was young, and Luther's most poignant memory of his dad was him dancing in the house with his kids, which is where the idea concept of "Dance With My Father" came from.
  • Marx and Vandross had collaborated in the past: Luther sang backup on Marx' 1991 hit "Keep Coming Back," and the pair wrote "Isn't There Someone" for Luther's 1998 album I Know. One of the reasons Vandross asked Marx to work on this song was because Richard lost his father in 1997 and could understand the feeling he was trying to convey.
  • This won the Grammy awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Song Of The Year, and the album also won for Best R&B Album. At the awards ceremony in 2004, Marx felt bittersweet accepting the Song Of The Year award, as Vandross couldn't be there because of his illness.
  • This song has appeared on several tributes to Vandross, including So Amazing recorded shortly after Vandross' death. Celine Dion recorded it for the album because she had also lost her father. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Sara - Silver Spring, MD
  • This returned to the UK Top 40 in 2009 after a performance by Joseph McElderry in the televised auditions for the sixth series of the music talent show The X Factor.

Comments: 6

  • Briana from New HampshireMy father died when I was 12. Now I'm 15 and everytime I listen to this song I think of him. I just wish I could be with my father and hear his heartbeat when I lay my ear across his heart
    .
  • Kathy from New Orleans, LaMakes me miss my daddy who died in 1998. Miss you Pops! Love you forever!
  • Kj21 from Isabela, Philippines..i always end up crying in my room everytime i hear the melodies of this song..
    it heartfully reminds me of my late father and how i long to be with him again-a thing.., that i know will never come to reality. however, it gives me a delightful feeling that the more i miss him with this song., the more i feel his presence around me.
    "i love you dad!"
  • Aless from Houston, Tx.... he died? Noooooooo....... (Luther Vandross, not his father) This song was so touching to me back in 2004 when one of my classmate's dad died. I don't know why I was so affected, but I was, and this song was a real blessing. I can't believe he died!
  • Karren Kresta from Caloocan City, Philippines...wow it really touch my heart... i love it....
  • Mackenzie :) from Fairmont , Wvwell i guess i'll be the first to comment this beautiful song. this song really holds close to my heart because it reminds me of my father, who i have a very close relationship with. i also wish to dance to this song with my father at my wedding.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

How The Beatles Crafted Killer Choruses

How The Beatles Crafted Killer ChorusesSong Writing

The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the Song

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the SongSong Writing

How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.