Cher delivered an unintentionally chaotic finale at the Grammys after briefly walking off stage — and then mistakenly announcing the late Luther Vandross as the winner of an award intended for Kendrick Lamar.
The pop icon, who appeared as a surprise guest at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, was met with a standing ovation as host Trevor Noah presented her with her Lifetime Achievement award.
After finishing her acceptance speech, Cher appeared ready to exit, turning to leave the stage as the audience and Noah urged her to stay on and present the final prize of the night.
“Before you go, before you go, Cher, before you go, could, could we get you to announce the nominees? I could do it, but it’s not the same,” the host quipped.
She eventually returned, prompting Noah to joke: “Welcome back Cher, everybody.”
Still keen to make her escape, she announced the nominees before admitting she had been told the winner would be “on the prompter”.
Read the full list of Grammys 2026 winners here
It was at this point that things went awry.
Once she realised she actually needed to open the envelope, Cher did so and declared the winner — albeit once again mispronouncing the name as “Luther Gandross [sic]!” - and inadvertently suggesting that the late soul legend, who died more than two decades ago, had won one of the biggest awards of the evening.
Realising her mistake moments later, Cher corrected herself and revealed the actual winners: Kendrick Lamar and SZA for their song Luther.
Lamar, 38, could be seen laughing in bemusement at the mix-up, but took it in good humour, recognising that the legend’s name was, in fact, at the heart of his own winning song.
The slip-up was not entirely off the mark. The track is named in tribute to Vandross and samples his 1982 duet with Cheryl Lynn, If This World Were Mine.
Taking the stage, producer Sounwave paid homage to the R&B icon, saying: “First and foremost, let’s give a shout-out to the late great Luther Vandross.”
Lamar then reflected on the influence of If This World Were Mine on the song.
“To echo what he said, this is what music is about. Luther Vandross,” he said. “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 poured into that record.”
Lamar, who won fourth awards on the night, 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.”
At the end of his speech, Lamar again paid tribute to Vandross by saying, “Luther forever.” He added: “Cheryl, thank you so much if you’re out there listening, watching, we appreciate you bottom of our hearts.”
Ahead of the Record of the Year mishap, Cher delivered a speech in which she reflected on her career while trailing off occasionally.
“I don’t do this part very well. I mean put a microphone in my hand and have some music and I’m great,” she told the audience, in what proved to be an early hint of the chaos to come.
“It’s a good thing they did it now because I have good genes and I wouldn’t have been here that much longer.”
