"Here and Now" is a 1989 song by American singer Luther Vandross. The song was written by David L. Elliott and Terry Steele. It is part of a collection of songs called The Best of Luther Vandross… The Best of Love. The song reached the top spot on the Hot Black Singles chart and was Vandross' fifth single to do so. It also made it into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it reached the sixth position.
Critical reception
David Giles from Music Week wrote, "Big fans of Vandross will enjoy this song — it is already appearing in the lower part of the chart — but this romantic, dreamy ballad does not show a major change in Vandross's usual style as a soul artist."
Personnel
- Luther Vandross – sang lead vocals and produced the music
- Nat Adderley Jr. – played keyboards and synthesizers, and arranged string parts
- Jason Miles – programmed synthesizers
- Paul Jackson Jr., Doc Powell – played guitar
- Paulinho da Costa – played percussion instruments
- Ivan Hampden Jr. – added drum sounds during recording
- Cissy Houston, Tawatha Agee, Brenda White, Lisa Fischer, Fonzi Thornton, Paulette McWilliams – provided background vocals
- Joseph Soldo – hired string musicians
- Marcus Miller – produced the music
- Ray Bardani – engineered and mixed the music
Accolades
In 1991, Vandross received his first Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the song "Here and Now."
Popular culture
- Vandross sang the song on a show called The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- Vandross also sang the song in the two-part episode "Do Not Pass Go" (season 5) of 227, during a scene where Rose and Warren had their wedding ceremony in early 1990.
Renditions
In 2005, American singer Patti LaBelle sang a version of the song for the album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross. In 1997, saxophonist Richard Elliot played the song on the soprano saxophone for his album Jumpin' Off.