Brandon's Buzz

Vesta — “Congratulations” (from Vesta 4 U) —

I was flabbergasted to read of the tragic passing, at the far-too-young age of 53, of the vividly brilliant Vesta Williams on Friday. I first became aware of Vesta when I happened to catch her singing this very song on an episode of the long-forgotten Byron Allen Show back in 1990, and her glorious, gut-wrenchingly raw performance knocked me plumb flat on my fourteen-year-old ass. (I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for this to show up on YouTube; in one of the dum-dum moves of all time, I quite stupidly taped over my own copy years ago, and have regretted it ever since, so if anybody reading this happens to still have a copy of this in their personal library, I’m willing to shell over megabucks for it.) I just saw Vesta, looking stunningly svelte after battling weight issues for a number of years, just a few weeks back on my marvelous Mo’Nique’s just-canceled BET talk show, and she sang this song once more (brilliantly, still) and discussed a new album, and I had every intention of finding out if she had a publicist and making contact in the hopes of dragging her to Brandon’s Buzz Radio to help promote the project. But my to-do list filled up anew and the email just never got written, and now it’s too late. (The lesson here is clear: seize the day, folks. Time’s a-wastin’.)