Luther Vandross' Niece Wasn't 'On Board' with Oprah Winfrey Interview After His Stroke (Exclusive)

Luther Vandross gave an intimate interview to Oprah Winfrey in 2004 after suffering a stroke — but his niece, Naturally Williams, tells PEOPLE that she initially disagreed with his decision to continue appearing.

“He did an interview with Oprah, which I didn’t really agree with, but my grandmother thought it would help other stroke victims see it,” Williams tells PEOPLE.

In the interview, Vandross wears sunglasses and his voice is slurred and slow, the lingering effects of an April 16, 2003 stroke.

But Vandross had an important message to share, his niece tells PEOPLE, which inspired him to do the interview.

Luther Vandross performs in Las Vegas in 2002.

Scott Harrison/Getty

“He just wanted people to know that taking good care of your health is extremely important and that diabetes is no joke, and having a stroke is no joke,” she said of Vandross, who was 54 when he died in 2005.

He “never really recovered” from the stroke, his rep said at the time.

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As Williams tells PEOPLE, Vandross “wanted everyone to do what they could to help themselves.”

Although Vandross’s stroke was indeed debilitating, Williams says that “during that time when he was sick, there was always constant singing, not just between him and me, but all his friends would come.”

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“There were rehearsals – [doing] it was kind of a therapy the whole time — having the singers around and just acting like they’re getting ready to tour.”

“He was all into it,” she said.

And as Williams previously told PEOPLE, the eight-time Grammy winner never stopped singing — even in his final days.

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“He sang until the last minute,” she told PEOPLE of her uncle, whose life story will be told in an upcoming documentary, produced by Jamie Foxx’s Foxxhole Productions and Colin Firth’s Raindog Films.

“I hope people see him as a man, a man who had a great career, but a man who lived a life.”

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Source: HIS Education