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.
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.
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.”
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.”
