Born on 21 December 1946, Luther Grosvenor grew up in Evesham in the same estate as Traffic's Jim Capaldi. His first prominent engagement came with a band called Deep Feeling, which included Capaldi, Gordon Jackson, Dave Meredith, and John Palmer. Previously, Luther had been in an Evesham band called Wavelength.

Deep Feeling evolved from a Worcester band called the Hellions, which featured Dave Mason on guitar. The band also recorded briefly as The Revolution in 1966, before packing it in. Many reference books list Luther as a member of both The Hellions and The Revolution, but although he was good friends with them, he was not in either of those bands.

When Steve Winwood formed Traffic with Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason in 1967, there was no room for Grosvenor in the band. Winwood gave Luther a tip that the Carlistle-based VIPs were looking for a guitarist, and so he joined up with them. The VIPs already had four singles under their belt, the last two being recorded for Island Records under the watchful eye of Guy Stevens. At the time Luther joined, the band included a young Keith Emerson along with Mike Harrison, Greg Ridley, and Mike Kellie. Emerson soon left, and the band changed their name to Art and released the Supernatural Fairy Tales LP (UK Island ILPS 967) in 1967. The band also backed other artists, most notably for the Hapsash and The Coloured Coat featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids LP (UK Minit MLS 40001E) in 1968.

With the addition of Gary Wright, Art changed their name to Spooky Tooth. The band cut four albums for Island, starting with 1968's It's All About (UK Island ILPS 9080). Their second album Spooky Two is acknowledged as their best work, and the group garnered critical praise but only moderate commercial success. An indication of the group's reputation among ytheir peers came in 1969, when Luther was on the list as a potential replacement for Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones. The group broke up after the 1970 album The Last Puff (UK Island ILPS 9117).

After Spooky Tooth packed it in, Luther took Chris Blackwell up on an offer to record a solo album. Luther and his wife Githa spent three months at Blackwell's villa in Spain, working on material with encouragement from his neighbor, film star Hugh Milias. The result was Under Open Skies (UK Island ILPS 9169), released in October 1971. Neither the album nor the single, Here Comes The Queen, made a dent on the charts. Plans to tour in support of Under Open Skies never materialized, nor did the reported followup album to be recorded with help from Jim Capaldi.

In late 1972 Mike Harrison and Gary Wright decided to reform Spooky Tooth, building a new group using musicians from their recent solo efforts. Luther was not the least bit interested in joining them. Instead, he replaced Gerry Rafferty in Stealer's Wheel in early 1973, joining Joe Egan, Paul Pilnick, De Lisle Harper, and Rod Coombes. They toured for the first six months of 1973 in support of the band's debut album, which had already been recorded and released before Luther joined. Although most of Luther's time with Stealer's Wheel was spent on the road, he did make it into the studio to record a single called Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine (UK A+M AMS 7079), which also appeared in the USA and Holland.

Immediately after Stealer's Wheel broke up in July 1973, Luther took a phone call in Hampstead from Ian Hunter, asking him to join Mott The Hoople. With only a few days rehearsal, he found himself onstage as Ariel Bender for the second half of Mott's USA tour. The band returned to the UK in early November for a tour supported by Queen, capped by a pair of shows at the Hammersmith Odeon which were put to tape in anticipation of a live album.

January 1974 saw Mott The Hoople enter Advision Studios to record The Hoople. One of the first chores for Luther was to re-record Mick Ralph's guitar on Roll Away The Stone. After a short warm up tour of the UK in late March, Mott The Hoople returned to the States for two more months of dates. The high point for the band came in early May, as they became the first rock band to sell out a week of shows on Broadway. These shows at the Uris Theater were also recorded for the upcoming live album.

Although the US tour was a crowning achievement for the band, by fall 1974 it was clear that Luther was not cut out for the Mott The Hoople role. Although press reports indicate that Bender quit Mott, it was more of a polite sacking. Mick Ronson was brought in to play out the final month of live dates, before the band called it quits for good.

After he parted company with Mott The Hoople, Luther was reported to be working on a solo album with Pete Gage and Steve York from Vinegar Joe. Once again, the plans for a second solo album did not pan out. In mid-1975, Luther got together with his friend Paul Nicholls and bankrolled the formation of Widowmaker. In addition to Nicholls, the band featured Bob Daisley, Hugh Lloyd-Langton, and reluctant singer Steve Ellis. The band's debut LP, Widowmaker (UK Jet LP 15), was released in April 1976 . After touring the UK and the USA in support of the debut album, Ellis left the band and was replaced by John Butler. The followup LP, Too Late To Cry (UK Jet UAG 30038), was to be the band's last.

Luther kept a low profile for the next decade, preferring to build his own decorating business rather than risk the uncertainty of the music industry. Although he did record a few sides with Verden Allen in 1978, it wasn't until the early 1990s that Luther returned to the music scene in a band called Blues `92. The band featured Luther on guitar, John Ledsom on bass, Darren Horn on drums, and Pete Devoy on vocals. Boues '92 gigged briefly in and around Liverpool, and headlined the Wirral International Guitar Festival in November 1992. Although Blues '92 didn't last very long, the project did prove that Luther still had his edge.

In 1995, Luther got together with Mike Kellie and Jess Roden to record a couple tracks for Rattlesnake Guitar, a Peter Green tribute CD. He was approached for the project by record executive Bob Laul, who offered Luther a chance to finally record that elusive second solo album.

Luther took Bob Laul up on his offer, and only ten days in Steve Winwood's studio were needed to create Floodgates (Brilliant RBCD 1007-2). Released in August 1996, the album features the same musicians who worked with Luther on the Peter Green album: Steve Dolan (ex- Hard Meat) on bass, Dave Moore on keyboards, and Mike Kellie on drums. Luther handles all the guitar and lead vocal chores, with the exception of two covers sung by Jess Roden. Five of the nine tracks were written by Luther and his Blues `92 bandmate John Ledsom.

Plans for a Spooky Tooth reunion album were initiated in 1997. Luther Grosvenor, Mike Harrison , Greg Ridley, and Mike Kellie went into FFG Studios in Gloucester in July, and three tracks were finished: Mike Kellie's How, the group composition Kiss It Better, and Sunshine (written by Karl Wallinger of World Party). Additional sessions were planned for October 1997, but the physical distance between the group members made rehearsals difficult and the plans fell apart.

With no new material in sight, plans were laid for an album called Sunshine, which would combine the new studio tracks with a 1968 BBC live concert and an unreleased Deep Feeling track. A mid-1998 release was planned. But when the Ruf organization heard the new material, they asked asked the band to record more material, and agreed to shoulder the cost of bringing the band to Adapoe Sound in Weimar, Germany. Grosvenor, Harrison, Ridley, and Kellie spent September 12-20, 1998 recording seven new tracks for the album. The disc album finally surfaced in February 1999 as Cross Purpose, released in both the USA and Europe.

On 17 April 1999, Luther made an appearance at the first annual Mott The Hoople Convention in Bilston (UK), still looking every inch the Rock Star. He signed autographs for fans, and that evening he joined Ian Hunter onstage for an over-the-top performance of Walkin' With A Mountain.

In the summer of 2000, plans were laid for a third Luther Grosvenor solo album, to be called If You Dare. Demos were recorded, and musicians were lined up including Huw Lloyd Langton (guitar), Steve Dolan (bass), Max Middleton (piano), and Simon Cooper (drums). Unfortunately, the project was shelved at the last minute When Luther decided to hang up his guitar.

Luther made a few guest apeparances over the next few years, playing at a benefit for Steve Dolan's family in Sep 2000, and sitting in with The Raiders and Darrell Bath. In late 2004, it was reported that Luther was putting together a new Ariel Bender Band, settling on a lineup of Luther Grosvenor (guitar and vocals), Mark Eden (vocals), Jim Houghton (bass), Mick Kirton (drums), Mick Trigg (keyboards), and Gary Oswell (guitar). Luther and Mark Eden made an appearance at the Greg Ridley Memorial on 20 Nov 2004.