Don't Want to Be a Fool

"Don't Want to Be a Fool"
Single by Luther Vandross
from the album Power of Love
Released	June 20, 1991 (1991-06-20) [1]
Recorded	1991
Genre	R&B, soul
Length	4:35 [2]
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Luther Vandross, Marcus Miller
Producer(s)	Luther Vandross, Marcus Miller
Luther Vandross singles chronology
"Power of Love/Love Power" (1991) "Don't Want to Be a Fool" (1991) "The Rush" (1991)
Music video
"Don't Want to Be a Fool" on YouTube

"Don't Want to Be a Fool" is a song by American recording artist Luther Vandross, released in June 1991 as the second single from his seventh album, Power of Love (1991). The song peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard R&B Singles chart on September 14. It also peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 2 same year. ^[3]

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic named the song one of the "high points" of the album. ^[4] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Second single from Vandross' current Power of Love disc places the acclaimed vocalist in a familiar R&B ballad setting. Lovely tune has already begun making radio and chart inroads, and should have no trouble matching the success of its predecessor." ^[5] Henderson and DeVaney from Cashbox described it as "a smooth, mid-tempo "up-town soul" song oozing with emotion." ^[6]

Track listing

• US cassette single, CD single

1. "Don't Want to Be a Fool" — 4:35

Personnel

• Luther Vandross – lead vocals, vocal arrangement
• Marcus Miller – keyboards, synthesizer programming, bass guitar, rhythm arrangement
• Jason Miles – synthesizer sound programming
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion
• Cissy Houston, Cindy Mizelle, Paulette McWilliams, Brenda White-King, Tawatha Agee – background vocals

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100	9
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [7]	5
US Hot R&B Singles ( Billboard )	4

References

1. "Atlanta News, Sports, Atlanta Weather, Business News | ajc.com". Nl.newsbank.com. 1991-08-10. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
2. "Luther Vandross - Don't Want To Be A Fool at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
3. "Luther Vandross Album & Song Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Luther Vandross – Power of Love". AllMusic . Retrieved 2020-11-04.
5. Flick, Larry (1991-08-10). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard . p. 67. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
6. Henderson, Alex; DeVaney, Bryan (1991-08-17). "Music Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Cashbox . p. 5. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
7. "Luther Vandross Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved August 28, 2018.