Luther Vandross Estate Responds to Cher’s Viral Grammy Mix-Up with SZA & Kendrick Lamar

Cher may have stepped onto the GRAMMY stage to present Record of the Year on Sunday night (February 1), but she ended up delivering one of the most memorable moments of the entire night.

Full story below.

The music legend appeared during a ceremony that had been running smoothly when she took the stage to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award.

After her acceptance speech, Cher walked off unaware she was also scheduled to present Record of the Year. Moments later, she returned to continue her duties…and that’s when the moment happened.

While presenting the award, Cher accidentally announced “Luther Vandross” as the winner, referencing the R&B singer who passed away in 2005 instead of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s collaboration, ‘Luther,’ whose song was sampled.

Realizing the mix-up almost instantly, Cher laughed it off and quickly corrected herself, officially announcing the rightful winners.

SZA later told ‘Entertainment Tonight‘ that she had nothing but respect during an interview after the show:

“She’s (Cher) not wrong,”

“She probably really knew Luther Vandross. Of course, her brain and her energy were connecting that energy to the energy that we’re sharing.”

The ‘Snooze‘ songstress wasn’t the only one making headlines for her response to the snafu.

Even Vandross’ estate took to his official X (formerly known as Twitter) account to react the next day. Look below to see what they said.

If only we could turn back time, @Cher pic.twitter.com/TkZDblbASD

— Luther Vandross (@luthervandross) February 2, 2026