History was made at the 2026 Grammys with Kendrick Lamar‘s win in the record of the year category, after quite the presentation of the award by none other than Cher.
After the “Believe” singer accepted the Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award, she mistakenly walked off the stage before presenting the second-to-last title of the night. Once she returned, she flubbed the name of the winner, accidentally announcing Luther Vandross, seemingly mixing up the late R&B singer’s name with the title of Lamar and SZA‘s track “luther.”
While the presentation of the record of the year Grammy was a spectacle in its own, Lamar set quite a few records with the win. He is the first male artist to win consecutively in the record of the year category, the first rapper to win the category consecutively and the first rapper to win the honor twice (he won last year for “Not Like Us.”)
Producer Sounwave acknowledged Cher’s misstep during the acceptance speech for the Grammy. “First and foremost, let’s give a shout out to the late great Luther Vandross,” as the track itself samples Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 song “If This World Were Mine.”
Lamar reiterated Sounwave’s sentiment, noting, “To echo what he said, this is what music is about. Luther Vandross. This is special for me. I gotta take my time, it’s one of my favorite artists of all time. And they granted us the privilege to do our version of it.”
“When we got that clearance, I promise you, we damn they all dropped a tear, because we know how much you and Cheryl and poured into that record,” Lamar continued. “And being able to put our vocals on it, it proves that we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals. And they granted us that, you know, they said no cursing though, can’t curse on it.”
Lamar also sung praise to his “luther” collaborator SZA, adding, “I wanna appreciate and give thanks to SZA.”
“I just want to say thank you to Kendrick for lifting me up,” she added. “I just am a small part of this record, but what I really wanted to say is, please don’t fall into despair.”
SZA continued, “I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars, there’s been plagues, and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other. We need to trust each other and trust ourselves, trust your heart. We’re not governed by the government, we’re governed by God, and I thank you so much. So, God bless you.”
Lamar shouted out Vandross and Lynn once more at the end of the acceptance speech: “So with that being said, we’ll continue to move like that. Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much if you’re out there listening, watching, we appreciate you bottom of our hearts. Luther forever. Thank y’all.”
And his record of the year win comes after he set yet another record as the most-decorated rapper at the Grammys ever. Lamar beat Jay-Z’s total of 25, earning a total of 27 after “luther” took home the coveted honor.
Lamar and SZA beat out Bad Bunny (“DtMF”), Sabrina Carpenter (“Manchild”), Doechii (“Anxiety”), Billie Eilish (“WILDFLOWER”), Lady Gaga (“Abracadabra”), Chappell Roan (“The Subway”) and Rosé and Bruno Mars (“APT.”) for the record of the year win.
Trevor Noah returned as host for his sixth consecutive (and final) year. The 2026 Grammys are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor, Jesse Collins and Noah are executive producers.
See all of the star-studded red carpet looks here and the full winners list here. Catch up on all of The Hollywood Reporter‘s 2026 Grammys coverage here.
