Legendary singer Cher accidentally mentioned Luther Vandross’ name when she took the stage at the 2026 Grammy Awards to present SZA and Kendrick Lamar with the award for Record of the Year.
Despite the mix-up, SZA, 36, made it clear that she has no issues with Cher. The Kill Bill singer also showered praises on Cher, 79, who is also known as the “Goddess of Pop.”
SZA and Lamar, 38, won the Grammy award for Record of the Year for their hit song, Luther. But Cher mistakenly mentioned the name of deceased singer Luther Vandross instead of the title of the song. She, however, then made the correction.
The Luther song features samples from Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s duet, If This World Were Mine. So that could probably explain why Cher mentioned Vandross’ name.
SZA touched on Cher’s mix-up during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “Y’all win, but Cher said Luther Vandross,” the interviewer mentioned to SZA.
“But we share the frequency of the song. Like that’s his frequency that allowed us to win, and that allowed it to be like, memorable,” SZA explained in response.
“So she’s not wrong, and she’s from that era,” she added about Cher. “She probably really knew Luther Vandross.”
SZA then went ahead to express her gratitude to Vandross, who passed away in July 2005 at the age of 54.
“Of course her brain and her energy is connecting that energy to the energy that we’re sharing,” SZA continued. “We’re mooching off what Luther already gave us. So we’re grateful, and it’s like I wish I could speak to him. Thank you Luther.”
The 36-year-old also similarly showered praises on Cher and recalled a previous interaction that she had with the Believe singer.
“I had spoken to Cher at the Cyndi Lauper tribute, and I was so befuddled by her beauty,” SZA recalled. “She, like, looked me in the eye and I was like – I just stopped talking.”
“I don’t know what happened to me,” she revealed. “But I love Cher. That’s my – my twin card. She’s a queen of clubs. Y’all go ahead and Google what that means.”
