1989 · Behind the Songs
A vow, made to outlast the last dance.
“Here and Now” won Luther Vandross his first Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and it is easy to hear why: it is the wedding song he was born to sing. Written by Terry Steele and David Elliott, the ballad is a promise set to music — no metaphors, no games, just a man telling his partner he will love her in the present tense, forever.
The arrangement is Vandross at his most regal: a stately piano, strings that swell like held breath, and a vocal that climbs from intimate to soaring without ever losing its tenderness. He sings it like an oath, and millions of couples have taken him at his word, making it a first-dance standard for decades.
What makes the performance immortal is its sincerity. Vandross never winks at the sentiment; he inhabits it completely. In a catalog full of love songs, this is the one that sounds most like a vow — because he sings it like he means every word.