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Madonna removed a photo of the late R&B legend Luther Vandross from an AIDS tribute displayed during her “Celebration” tour.
Madonna included Vandross’s image in the AIDS tribute during a concert on Saturday in Sacramento, California.
The pop singer remembered stars who died from AIDS by including their photos in a montage during her performance of her 1986 song “Live to Tell.”
The montage included images of Herb Ritts, Freddie Mercury, Keith Haring and Sylvester, among others.
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The Vandross estate was surprised to learn that Madonna included his photo in the montage.
“Luther Vandross passed away in 2005 due to complications from a stroke suffered two years earlier,” a rep for his estate told Page Six in a statement.
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It was an open secret that Vandross was gay. Bruce Vilanch, a friend and colleague told Out magazine, “He said to me, ‘No one knows I’m in the life.’ … He had very few sexual contacts.”
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Vilanch said Vandross was in a longterm relationship with a man while living in an $8.5 million home in Los Angeles during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Elijah Reeder (right) is pictured with Vandross in a 1989 cover story for EBONY magazine. Vandross referred to Reeder, his alleged live-in lover, as his “personal assistant.”