ROBERTA FLACK - LABELLE, FLACK AND PENDERGRASS PAY RESPECTS TO VANDROSS

Music stars PATTI LaBELLE, ROBERTA FLACK and TEDDY PENDERGRASS have paid their respects to late soul singer LUTHER VANDROSS in a New York City funeral home.

Grammy-winning singer Vandross died on Friday (01JUL05) after failing to fully recover from a stroke in 2003.

Soul star LaBelle, 61, sat in the front row of the parlour in Manhattan's Frank E Campbell Funeral Home yesterday (06JUL05), consoling the hundreds of fans who arrived to say goodbye to their idol.

When one fan began sobbing loudly, LaBelle told her, "Let it out, lady. Let it out."

Flack and Pendergrass joined the line of people waiting to see Vandross in his white coffin, reports the New York Daily News.

Vandross' back-up singer KEVIN OWENS laments, "He cared so much about the public, about what they would see and hear."

A memorial service for the NEVER TOO MUCH hitmaker will be held at nearby Riverside Church tomorrow (08JUL05).