The 2026 Grammys ended with a plot twist no one had on their bingo card: Cher accidentally announcing “Luther Vandross” instead of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” for Record of the Year. Within hours, the flub was everywhere, but SZA quickly stepped in to cool things down and explain why, in her view, Cher was not actually that far off. Her reaction turned a viral mishap into a surprisingly thoughtful moment about legacy, influence, and how generations of artists talk to each other.
Rather than treating the mix-up as an insult, SZA framed it as a kind of spiritual shout-out to Luther Vandross himself and a reminder of what the song “Luther” was built on. In doing so, she managed to defend a 79-year-old icon, honor a late legend, and still celebrate a career-defining win with Kendrick Lamar, all in the same breath.
How Cher’s Record of the Year Moment Went Sideways
By the time Cher walked out to present Record of the Year, the Grammys finale was supposed to be a straightforward victory lap. Instead, after clips of the nominated tracks rolled on CBS, she reappeared with the envelope and, in a moment of live TV chaos, announced “Luther Vandross” instead of the actual winning record, “Luther,” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Reports describe the crowd’s confusion as Cher, who had been told she would be presenting a different category earlier in the night, tried to regain her footing onstage while cameras kept rolling on the CBS broadcast.
The slip instantly became the night’s most replayed clip, with social media zeroing in on the surreal image of Cher confidently naming Luther Vandross, a singer who died in 2005 at age 54, as if he had just taken home one of the biggest awards of the evening. Coverage of the finale notes that she even started to walk offstage before host Trevor Noah pulled her back so the actual winners, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, could be properly recognized for Record of the Year, a sequence that left the Grammys crowd buzzing and the internet dissecting how Noah had to steer the show back on track.
SZA’s First Take: “She’s Not Wrong”
Once the memes started flying, the question became how SZA would respond to having her big win essentially handed to a ghost for a few seconds. When she finally addressed it, the 36-year-old did not sound offended at all. Instead, she leaned into the connection, saying “We share the frequency of the song,” and explaining that she felt Luther Vandross’s energy in the record that she and Kendrick Lamar made together. In her words, “Like, that’s his frequency that allowed us to win and that allowed it to be what it is,” a perspective she shared while reacting to the viral moment as a hitmaker who knows exactly which shoulders she is standing on.
In another interview, SZA went even further, saying she did not mind Cher’s “luther” mix-up and adding, “She’s not wrong,” a line that quickly became the shorthand for her whole stance. Rather than treating the moment as a disrespectful error, she framed it as a kind of cosmic overlap between her song and the man it was named after, making clear there were no hard feelings toward Cher. That forgiving tone, captured as she broke her silence on the flub and emphasized there was no rift between SZA and Cher, was highlighted in coverage that quoted her directly and noted how she brushed off the mistake while her comments were shared alongside Getty Images of the two icons.
Why “Luther” Was Always About Luther Vandross
Part of why SZA could be so relaxed about the mix-up is that “Luther” was never trying to hide its inspiration. The record, which earned Kendrick Lamar and SZA Record of the Year at the Grammys, is explicitly built around Luther Vandross’s legacy, right down to its title. Reporting on the win notes that the track is a tribute that lets Kendrick Lamar and SZA “do our version of it,” a nod to how they channeled Vandross’s sound and spirit into something new while still centering his name in the song’s identity and in the way the award was announced for Kendrick Lamar and SZA at the Grammys.
When SZA later reflected on the song itself, she talked about it in almost spiritual terms, saying she trusted God and felt blessed that Kendrick continues to lift her up, and describing the record as something bigger than either of them. She framed “Luther” as a shared channel, a space where her voice, Kendrick’s perspective, and Vandross’s influence all meet, a sentiment she shared while discussing her Grammy win and the announcement mishap in a conversation that underscored how deeply she thinks about collaboration, faith, and legacy in her work with Kendrick.
Reading Cher’s Mind: A Legend Recognizing a Legend
SZA has also been clear that she understands exactly how Cher’s brain might have made that leap in the heat of the moment. After the “Believe” hitmaker, 79, got flustered while presenting Record of the Year at the Grammys and accidentally read out Luther Vandross’s name, SZA framed it as a legend thinking of another legend. She described it as “a legend was speaking,” suggesting that Cher’s instinctive association between the word “Luther” and Luther Vandross was less a blunder and more a sign of how deeply Vandross is etched into music history, a point she made while explaining that she fully understood the Believe singer’s moment of confusion.
That empathy tracks with other reactions that have surfaced online, where fans have echoed the idea that SZA understands Cher’s mind and that the slip was almost inevitable given how synonymous “Luther” is with Vandross for older generations. One widely shared breakdown of the moment summed it up as “SZA understands Cher’s mind,” pointing out that after the Believe hitmaker’s moment of confusion, the younger artist chose to read it as a kind of generational bridge rather than a slight, a framing that has been amplified in fan spaces like Reddit where users have been unpacking the exchange.
Luther Vandross’s Team Weighs In From The Archives
The surreal part of Cher’s slip is that it briefly sounded like Luther Vandross had just won a brand new Grammy from beyond the grave. That eerie vibe was not lost on Vandross’s own team, who responded by resurfacing a classic quote from the singer about how he treated his awards. In the clip, Vandross jokes, “I take this home, I put it on the front door, you have to lift it up before you can ring the bell,” a line that his social media team shared while making clear that his legacy is still very much alive in the culture and that the moment was “not taken lightly,” a reaction captured in coverage that paired Luther Vandross and Cher side by side with a Credit to Kevin Winter of Getty.
That same archival quote, pulled from Vandross reflecting on his own Grammy wins, has taken on new life as fans imagine him joking about needing extra space on his front door for yet another trophy. The resurfaced moment, which includes him describing exactly how he would display his awards, has been cited as a fitting response to Cher’s mix-up, with commentators noting that it feels like Vandross himself is in on the joke. The way his team framed the clip, emphasizing his humor and pride, has been highlighted in follow-up pieces that quote Vandross’s words directly and underline how his voice still cuts through in 2026, as seen in the detailed recounting of his “I take this home” line in the same Vandross coverage.
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