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Cher accidentally announces dead artist as Record of the Year winner at Grammys

Home> Entertainment> Music

Updated 09:12 2 Feb 2026 GMTPublished 09:02 2 Feb 2026 GMT

Cher accidentally announces dead artist as Record of the Year winner at Grammys

The mix-up was caught on camera

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

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Cher accidentally announced a dead artist as the winner of Record of the Year in an unfortunate mix-up at last night's Grammys.

Yesterday (1 February) saw the music industry's biggest and brightest talent descend on Los Angeles for the awards ceremony, which saw SuperBowl performer Bad Bunny scoop the prestigious 'Album of the Year' award.

However, the night wasn't without hiccups, as singer Cher accidentally told attendees that one of the awards had been given to a singer who'd passed away over two decades ago.

The 79-year-old was on stage after being honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award and went to leave the stage after delivering her speech, forgetting that she was also tasked with revealing the winner of the Record of the Year category.

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After being reminded of her duties by Grammys' host Trevor Noah, the 'Believe' singer was left confused when the winner's name was not displayed on the teleprompter.

Cher made the blunder while announcing the Record of the Year category (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Cher made the blunder while announcing the Record of the Year category (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

"Oh... they told me it was going to be on the [tele]prompter," she said, before opening the envelope to reveal the winner's name.

This is where Cher then finalised her trio of mistakes, telling crowds in attendance that Luther Vandross - an R&B singer who'd passed away in 2005 - had won the award.

Oops.

Anyone familiar with the nominations in the category will have quickly realised the actual winner was Kendrick Lamar and SZA with their track 'Luthor', which samples the late singer.

The Lamar, who appears to be a little bemused by the situation, before Cher quickly corrects herself.

Watch the awkward moment below:


Lamar was able to take the mix-up in his stride, joking to the crowd: "This is what music is about... Luther Vandross."

The 38-year-old then went on to praise Vandross, revealing he'd been left emotional after being approved to sample Vandross and Cheryl Lynn's 1982 rendition of 'If This World Were Mine'.

"This is special for me," he said. "I gotta take my time. It’s one of my favorite artists of all-time. They granted us the privilege to do our version of it.

"When we got that clearance, I promise you, we damn near all dropped a tear."

The rapper poked fun at the mix-up during his acceptance speech (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The rapper poked fun at the mix-up during his acceptance speech (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

The single had appeared on Lamar's 2024 album GNX, which had been up for two nominations - Album of the Year and Best Rap Album - winning the latter category.

Grammys 2026 nominations

Record Of The Year

DtMF - Bad Bunny

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

Anxiety - Doechii

WILDFLOWER - Billie Eilish

Abracadabra - Lady Gaga

Luther - Kendrick Lamar With SZA (winner)

The Subway - Chappell Roan

APT. - ROSÉ, Bruno Mars

Album Of The Year

DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS - Bad Bunny (winner)

SWAG - Justin Bieber

Man's Best Friend - Sabrina Carpenter

Let God Sort Em Out - Clipse, Pusha T & Malice

MAYHEM - Lady Gaga

GNX - Kendrick Lamar

MUTT - Leon Thomas

CHROMAKOPIA - Tyler, The Creator

Song Of The Year

Abracadabra - Lady Gaga

Anxiety - Doechii

APT - ROSÉ, Bruno Mars

DtMF - Bad Bunny

Golden — From KPop Demon Hunters

Luther - Kendrick Lamar With SZA

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

WILDFLOWER - Billie Eilish (winner)

Best New Artist

Olivia Dean (winner)

KATSEYE

The Marias

Addison Rae

sombr

Leon Thomas

Alex Warren

Lola Young

Best Pop Solo Performance

DAISIES - Justin Bieber

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

Disease - Lady Gaga

The Subway - Chappell Roan

Messy - Lola Young (winner)

Best Rock Performance

U Should Not Be Doing That - Amyl and The Sniffers

The Emptiness Machine - Linkin Park

NEVER ENOUGH - Turnstile

Mirtazapine - Hayley Williams

Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning - YUNGBLUD Ft Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II (winner)

Best R&B Performance

YUKON - Justin Bieber

It Depends - Chris Brown Featuring Bryson Tiller

Folded - Kehlani (winner)

MUTT (Live From NPR's Tiny Desk) - Leon Thomas

Heart Of A Woman - Summer Walker

Best Rap Performance

Outside - Cardi B

Chains & Whips - Clipse, Pusha T & Malice Featuring Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams

Anxiety - Doechii

tv off - Kendrick Lamar Ft Lefty Gunplay (winner)

Darling, I - Tyler, The Creator Ft Teezo Touchdown

Best Music Video

Young Lion - Sade

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

So Be It - Clipse

Anxiety - Doechii (winner)

Love - OK Go

Featured Image Credit: X/CBS

Topics: Kendrick Lamar, Music, Grammys

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

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@_brencoco

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