Cher Announces 'Luther Vandross' as Winner of Record of the Year

Cher caused a bit of confusion at the Grammy Awards Sunday night when she announced the Record of the Year winner to “Luther Vandross,” which went to Kendrick Lamar and SZA for their song “Luther,” a tribute to the late R&B singer.

She quickly realized her error and said “No, Kendrick Lamar! The Grammy goes to Kendrick Lamar.”

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Lamar was seen laughing as he and SZA made their way on stage, making light of the mistake. “Luther” was the third single off GNX that sampled “If This World Were Mine” by Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn. Lamar shed light on how Vandross, who passed away in 2005, is one of his favorite artists and how with the sample he wanted to keep the integrity of the song.

“This is special for me. I’ve got to take my time, because he’s one of my favorite artists of all time,” Lamar said, “They granted us the privilege to do our version of [‘If This World Were Mine’]. When we got that clearance, I promise you, we damn near all dropped a tear, because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record. Being able to put our vocals of it proves that we are somewhat worthy of being just as great as them individuals. They granted us that.”

He added that Lynn and the Vandross estate had one condition for clearing the sample: no cursing.

“They said ‘no cursing’ though. ‘You can’t curse on it.’ That was the only thing, right? And we said, you know what? We are going to do just that. No cursing, and we are going to make sure the song represents love.”

Backstage a reporter addressed the mixup to SZA, where she simply stated that, “His [Vandross] frequency allowed us to win and allowed to be a memorable moment.” She also shared that she loves Cher.

Before handing the award, Cher gave an acceptance speech for her Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys, seemingly forgetting she was to announce the Record of the Year winners and walked off stage.