Cher Causes Confusion at Grammys by Announcing ‘Luther Vandross’ as Winner of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Record of the Year

It’s not quite John Travolta’s “Adele Dazeem,” but Cher caused a bit of confusion at the Grammys when she announced “Luther Vandross” as the winner of record of the year, which went to Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” itself a tribute to the R&B singer who died in 2005.

Cher took a long pause before opening the envelope that contained the category’s winner, then laughed: “Oh! They told me it was going to be on the prompter.” When she revealed the victor, she saw the song title “Luther” and announced, “The Grammy goes to Luther Vandross.” She then realized the error and corrected herself, saying, “The Grammy goes to Kendrick Lamar.”

Lamar was seen laughing as SZA hugged people on her way up to the stage. Accepting the award, the performers and producers made light of the gaffe by acknowledging the connection between their song and the famed singer it’s named after. “Luther,” the third single off of Lamar’s “GNX” album, samples Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s cover of “If This World Were Mine,” written by Marvin Gaye.

“First and foremost, let’s give a shout out to the late, great Luther Vandross,” said Sounwave, one of the producers behind “Luther.”

“To echo what he said, this is what music is about: Luther Vandross,” Lamar added. “This is special for me. I’ve got to take my time, because he’s one of my favorite artists of all time. 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.”

Lamar added that Lynn and the Vandross estate had one contingency on clearing the sample: “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.”

He capped off his speech with two words: “Luther forever.”

Segueing into the next performance, Grammys host Trevor Noah acknowledged Cher’s funny moment, saying, “I love live television.”