Cher’s Luther Vandross Mix-Up at the 2026 Grammys Explained

The 2026 Grammys brought together some of music’s most talented and successful artists, not to mention some incredible fashion and a few unforgettable moments. Among them include seeing a slimmed down Jelly Roll walking the red carpet, and Cher’s hiccup when she announced Luther Vandross as the winner for Record of the Year.

Well, actually, she said Luther Grandross instead of Luther Vandross. Nonetheless, it was a confusing moment, not just for Cher, but for attendees and viewers at home. Here’s why she got mixed up.

Cher accidentally announced the wrong name for the Record of the Year award at the 2026 Grammys. Instead of saying Kendrick Lamar, she said Luther Vandross (which sounded like “Luther Grandross”), and it’s easy to see why. The award went to Kendrick and SZA’s hit “Luther,” which heavily samples Luther Vandross’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine.”

When Cher went up to present, she looked confused as she waited for the prompter to tell her who had won. Realizing it wasn’t coming, she jokingly told the crowd, “Oh! They told me it was going to be on the prompter,” and shrugged off the blip. But when she opened the envelope, it presumably only said “Luther,” prompting her to say “Luther Vandross.”

And the mix-up makes sense because the song is titled “Luther” and samples one of Luther’s greatest hits. But Cher quickly corrected herself, saying, “No, Kendrick Lamar! The Grammy goes to Kendrick Lamar.” The camera then panned over to Kendrick and SZA as they made their way to the stage with “Luther” playing in the background.

After everyone gathered on stage, Sounwave, one of the producers of “Luther,” was the first to give a speech, saying “First and foremost, let’s give a shout-out to the late, great Luther Vandross.”

Sampling Luther’s “If This World Were Mine” not only keeps his legacy alive but is almost a guaranteed way to make a song a hit, since the original was a classic itself. While only certain artists are able to get approval to sample a song of that stature, Kendrick shared in his Grammy speech that he and SZA were able to clear it under one condition — no cursing.

Kendrick explained that Cheryl Lynn and Vandross’s estate would approve the sample as long as the two agreed to keep the lyrics clean. “They said, ‘no cursing.’ 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.”

He also added that Luther is “one of my favorite artists of all time” and admitted that when the clearance finally came through, “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 on it proves that we are somewhat worthy of being just as great as those individuals. They granted us that.” He then ended his speech with: “Luther forever.”