"So Amazing" is a 1983 song recorded by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

. It was written by

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

and

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

and produced by Vandross for her studio album '' How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye'' (1983). Three years later, Vandross himself covered the song for his fifth studio album '' Give Me the Reason'' (1986). Released as a single, it entered the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart and earned a

Soul Train Music Award The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony which honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the production company of ''Soul Train'', the program from which it takes its name, and ...

nomination in 1988. In 2005, singers

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

recorded a duet version of "So Amazing" for the tribute album '' So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross'' (2005) that was released three months after Vandross' death. Their rendition won the

Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

at the

48th Annual Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 ...

. The song has since been recorded by several artists, some of which are tributes to Vandross.

Luther Vandross version

Warwick and Vandross wanted "So Amazing" to serve as the lead single from Warwick's ''How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye''. However,

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

head

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

found that the song lacked commercial crossover appeal and chose the album's

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

, a duet by Warwick and Vandross, instead. His decision prompted Vandross to re-record "So Amazing" for his fifth studio album '' Give Me the Reason'' (1986). Released as the album's fifth single, his version reached number 33 on the UK Singles Chart and number 94 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. The song was nominated for the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single – Male at the 1988 awards ceremony. Regarding the success of Vandross' version, Warwick joked in a 2021 interview that she had felt pleasure telling Davis "You can't be right all the time, Sir."

Charts

Other cover versions

In March 1999,

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

sang Vandross's "So Amazing" as a tribute to Vandross being honored with the Career Achievement award, as he sat in the audience during the

Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony which honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the production company of '' Soul Train'', the program from which it takes its name, and ...

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/ pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has rel ...

El DeBarge Eldra "El" Patrick DeBarge (born June 4, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was the focal point and primary lead singer of the DeBarge family, family group DeBarge. Popular songs led by El DeBarge include "Time Will Reveal ...

, and

Kenny Lattimore Kenny Lattimore (born April 10, 1970) is an American R&B singer known for his smooth, soulful voice and romantic ballads. He rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with the release of his self-titled album, '' Kenny Lattimore.'' Early life and ...

provided background vocals. In 2001, Chante Moore performed the song at the 2001 at the BET Walk of Fame Awards for Vandross. Tamia performed the song at the 2003 Essence Festival on July 5, 2003 in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Her performances was taped and aired on the

UPN Network The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American terrestrial television, broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidi ...

on September 12, 2003. Studio versions *

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright (born August 30, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for the albums ''24/7 (Gerald Albright and Norman Brown album), 24/7'' in 2012 and ''Slam Dunk'' in 2014 and was nominated for ''New Beginnings (Gerald Albr ...

on '' Just Between Us'' (1987) *

Janet Kay Janet Kay Bogle (born 17 January 1958) is an English actress and vocalist, best known for her 1979 lovers rock hit " Silly Games". Biography Janet Kay Bogle was born in Willesden, North West London. She was discovered singing impromptu at a ...

on ''So Amazing'' (1988) *

Darwin Hobbs Darwin Todd Hobbs (born November 30, 1968) is an American gospel music singer noted for his vocal similarity to classic soul singers Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson and Lou Rawls. In addition to his career as a gospel artist, Hobbs and his ensem ...

on ''Vertical '' (2000) *

Richie Stephens Richard Stephenson (born 5 December 1966), better known as Richie Stephens is a Jamaican R&B, dancehall and reggae singer and producer. Biography Born in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica,

on ''Covers for Lovers'' (2003) * Rigmor Gustafsson with Jacky Terrasson on ''Close to You'' (2004) *

and

on '' So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross'' (2005) *

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for " Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after its re-release ...

on ''

Forever, for Always, for Luther Volume II ''Forever, for Always, for Luther Volume II'', released on November 21, 2006 by Rendezvous Entertainment, is a smooth jazz various artists tribute album, with ten popular songs written by Luther Vandross. The album was produced by Rex Rideout and ...

'' (2008) *

Marti Pellow Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 to his d ...

on ''Love to Love'' (2011) *

Ruben Studdard Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as the winner of the second season of ''American Idol'' and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recordi ...

on ''Ruben Sings Luther'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:So Amazing (song) 1983 songs 1986 songs 1987 singles Dionne Warwick songs Luther Vandross songs Songs written by Luther Vandross Pop ballads Epic Records singles