Luther Vandross passed away in 2005, but not released music from the R&B icon was made available Friday — a cover of The Beatles60s hit “Michelle”.

Vandross’ close friend and vocal collaborator, Fonzi Thornton, discovered the band after the singer’s death when he visited his family to look through his music archives, unseen videos, cassette tapes, personal effects, stage costumes and more. He then moved the archive to a room in his apartment for safekeeping.

“I found two tapes labeled ‘Michelle’ in his handwriting — (I had) no idea what it was (and then I played it!) I realized it was a beautiful rendition of the Beatles classic that had been vocally and musically Lutheranized, Thornton says. The Hollywood Reporter. “I played Luther’s version to Jeff James, A&R at Sony, and Dave Gottlieb, head of the Vandross Estate, and we agreed it was such a find. We decided to save it for the right time—which is now.”

The release of “Michelle” coincides with the Vandross documentary Luther: Never too muchwhich premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is opened in selected cities on November 1. The 21 track Never Too Much: Greatest Hits the album will be released on December 13 and features more unreleased songs and remixes, as well as the singer’s popular hits such as “Here and Now”, “Endless Love” and “Power of Love/Love Power”.

The Beatles’ “Michelle,” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, is about two and a half minutes long and won the Grammy for song of the year at the show in 1967. Vandross’s soulful rendition is close to seven minutes and features his smooth and lush vocals.

“This is something we were working on but never finished. I think Luther decided to put it away to finish later and we never got to it. Even so, the greatness of Luther’s voice shines through. He uses every part of his voice so effortlessly and expertly – it never ceases to amaze me, says Marcus Miller, his close friend and collaborator. THR. “And towards the end you also get to hear the magic Luther could create singing his own backing vocals! Maybe he would have replaced them with his incredible team of backing singers at some point – but he created some deliciousness here on his own. Another classic song has Lutherized!”

Thornton, who stars in the documentary alongside Miller, Mariah Carey, Nile Rodgers and Doctor Who producer Jamie Foxx, says Vandross “once mentioned that he loved the way ‘Michelle’ was written.”

“He had complimented Sarah Vaughan’s version but never mentioned recording the song. I thought it was an experiment in his quest to do a classic love song per album like ‘A House Is Not A Home’ or ‘Always and Forever.'” Funny enough none of his musicians or engineers remember ever recording this, he adds.

Vandross began her career as a backup singer for Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler and David Bowie. He released his double platinum debut album, Never too much1981 and sold 40 million albums worldwide. Most of his albums – which he mostly produced himself – achieved platinum or double platinum status.

Luther: Never too muchdirected by award-winning filmmaker Dawn Portertakes on the legendary singer’s rich career as well as his struggles with his sexuality and overeating. It comes nearly 20 years after the eight-time Grammy winner died in 2005 at the age of 54, after suffering a stroke in 2003.

The documentary will premiere on CNN, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Max next year.