Video...

[From Associated Press]

Friends pitch in to help ailing Luther Vandross finish a video

.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Luther Vandross is too ill to film a video for his new song, so Beyonce Knowles and other friends and admirers filled in for what turned out to be an all-star tribute to the ailing star.

Vandross, 52, is still recovering from an April stroke that left him hospitalized for two months. His album, ``Dance With My Father,'' was released last month, and it has sold almost 1 million copies.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Knowles talked about her appearance in the video and on Vandross' album, on which the two sing the duet ``The Closer I Get to You.''

Knowles, 21, said the duet showed she'd made it as a singer.

``I couldn't believe I was doing a song with him,'' she says. ``That's crazy, because he's so classic and so talented, and that's just crazy to me! Those are those moments in your life, like everything is worth it, you know?''

More than a dozen celebrities turned out to appear in the video to the title track, including Knowles, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, basketball star Jason Kidd, Monica and Patti LaBelle.

Family photos of Vandross and his family are also featured.

On the Net:

http://www.luthervandross.com/LV-mainframeset.html

http://www.beyonceonline.com/

NEWSFILE: 19 JULY 2003