SZA was just as confused as everyone else when Cher name-dropped Luther Vandross during her and Kendrick Lamar’s Record of the Year win at the 2026 Grammys.
Cher, 79, made waves during the Sunday, February 1, ceremony when she presented the Record of the Year category. She initially announced the winner as Luther Vandross rather than Lamar, 38, and SZA, 36, for their song “Luther,” which is inspired by the late singer.
SZA later reacted to the mix-up, explaining why Cher might have made the mistake.
“We share the frequency of the song, like, that’s his frequency that allowed us to win and that allowed us to be, like, memorable,” she told Entertainment Tonight in a video posted via Instagram on Sunday. “So, she’s not wrong and she’s from that era, so she probably really knew Luther Vandross.”
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SZA added: “Of course her brain and her energy is connecting that energy to the energy that we’re sharing. We’re mooching off of what Luther already gave us. So, we’re grateful. … Thank you, Luther.”
In another clip from the interview, SZA laughed off the awkward moment, confessing, “I didn’t know what was going on.”
“A legend was speaking … that’s what I understood,” she said. “Cher was, you know, she was queening.”
Cher suffered through more than one blunder while presenting at the Grammys on Sunday. When she first appeared on stage, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award after she was unable to attend the Grammys Special Merit Awards on Saturday, January 31, to accept the accolade. Cher then made a heartfelt speech and subsequently attempted to exit the stage, seemingly forgetting that she still needed to present Record of the Year.
Once she returned, Cher failed to open the envelope to see which of the nominees won the category.
“And the Grammy goes to … Oh! They told me it was going to be on a prompter,” she said before removing the winner’s name from the envelope. “Oh, the Grammy goes to Luther Vandross. Oh, Kendrick, no, Kendrick Lamar!”
Cher was seen apologizing to Lamar, SZA and their collaborators as they came up to accept the award.
In reality, while Vandross did not take home the Grammy for Record of the Year, Lamar and SZA’s song “Luther” contains a sample of his and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine.”
Lamar paid tribute to Vandross—who died in July 2005 at age 54 from a heart attack—during his Grammys acceptance speech, explaining that the moment was “special” to him because the late singer is “one of my favorite artists of all time.”
“We know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record,” he added. “Luther forever.”
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