Singer Cher accidentally called Kendrick Lamar "Luther Vandross" as she announced the winner of Record of the Year at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
Lamar, 38, won for his GNX track luther, which features R&B singer SZA and samples the late soul star Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn's 1982 version of If This World Were Mine.
After initially thinking she would be reading from a prompter rather than the envelope, Cher, who earlier received a lifetime achievement award, said: "And the Grammy goes to, oh they told me it was going to be on the prompter… oh, and the Grammy goes to Luther Vandross, no Kendrick Lamar."
Lamar and SZA arrived on stage laughing and joking with Cher.
Smiling, Lamar said: "This is what music is about. Luther Vandross.
"This is special for me. I gotta take my time, because it’s one of my favourite artists of all time, and they granted us the privilege to do our version of it.
"When we got that clearance, I promise you, we definitely all dropped a tear because we know how much he and Cheryl Lynn put into that record, and being able to put our vocals on it proves that we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as those individuals, and they granted us that.
"They said no cursing, though. Can’t curse on it, that was the only thing, right? And we said, 'You know what we’re going to do? Just that no cursing, and we’re going to make sure that this song represents love’.
"So I want to appreciate and give thanks to SZA."
SZA thanked Lamar for "lifting me up" and added: "I’m just a small part of this record, but what I really wanted to say is, please don’t fall into despair.
"I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost.
"There’s been world wars, there’s been plagues, and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other. We need to trust each other, trust ourselves, trust your heart.
"We’re not governed by the government, we’re governed by God, and I thank you so much."
Lamar, who led this year’s nominations with nine, also won Best Rap Album for GNX, Best Rap Song for tv off featuring Lefty Gunplay, Best Melodic Rap Performance for luther, and Best Rap Performance for Chains & Whips with Clipse, Pusha T, Malice and Pharrell Williams.
Source: Press Association
