Luther Vandross was an 8-time Grammy winner, an over 35 million records seller, a highly acclaimed singer, songwriter, producer, and arranger…and little did many know, he was also a take-no-mess kind of brotha. After his untimely passing in 2005, we’ve learned more about him in death, than we did when he was alive. In fact, his zero tolerance for BS is one of those prominent personality traits we’ve realized we LOVED about Luther.

Apparently, a fan who came at him the wrong way back in the day, learned that Luther was NOT the one to play with firsthand. Luther’s friend/gospel singer, Bebe Winans recalled an incident when a female fan tried to play Luther on an escalator. What Luther did next will crack you up. Check it out below…

LUTHER LET HIS FAN HAVE IT!!!

Here is what Bebe wrote in his book, “The Whitney I Knew”:

Luther Vandross once told me of a time when he was riding an escalator up and a lady who was headed on the down escalator recognized him. She made a big fuss when Luther didn’t stop and sign something for her, blurting out, “I’m never going to buy another one of your albums again!”

According to Bebe, that’s when Luther turned ALL the way up:

Though Luther couldn’t stop – he was on an escalator! – when he reached the top, he immediately hopped the down escalator. Upon catching up to the woman, he asked, “How many of my records do you own?” The lady quickly rattled off several titles. Luther then reached in his pocket and paid her a couple hundred dollars and said, “There, that should cover it. I never want you to buy my records again. You don’t own me!”

And BAM! Luther left that woman with a cracked face and happy pocketbook at the same damn time! It doesn’t get any more classy and real than that!

Bebe concluded with a reflection on both the life of his close friend Whitney, as well as Luther’s this point:

Sometimes we think we own those in the public eye. We buy an album and, back in the day, we’d haul it around in our Walkmans or keep it spinning on our record players. Now we can literally carry songs in our back pockets, keeping little pieces of our favorite artists with us at all times. Some people think this entitles them to a part of that celebrity’s life…I think Whitney felt all the time like Luther did that day.

We couldn’t have concluded it better ourselves. Continue resting in peace Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross. The world will never dim your light…