Fresh off accepting her Lifetime Achievement Award, Cher looked eager and ready to float offstage during the 2026 Grammys — until host Trevor Noah called her back.
“Cher, before you go … can we get you to announce the nominees? I could do it … but I don’t have the track record,” Noah, 41, quipped during the star-studded ceremony held on Sunday, February 1, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
“You can see I wanted to get off the stage,” she joked while returning to the microphone.
The pop icon, 79, paused and flashed a smile as the crowd laughed, leaning into the awkward moment before introducing the nominees for Record of The Year.
A montage video played, showing the artists up for the prize: Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Chappell Roan and Rosé and Bruno Mars.
“And the Grammy goes to … oh, they told me it was gonna be on the prompter,” she said, before zipping her lip with her hand and looking down at the envelope. “Oh, the Grammy goes to Luther Vandross!” she proclaimed.
Although she said the name of the late singer, what she meant to say was “Luther” by Lamar and SZA, produced by Jack Antonoff and Sounwave. The song samples Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine.”
Cher presents the Record Of The Year award for “Luther” to (from L) Kendrick Lamar, Jack Antonoff, Sounwave, Scott Bridgeway, Kamasi Washington, and SZA onstage during the 68th Grammy Awards. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
When Sounwave took the stage, he began his acceptance speech with some praise for the music icon who died in July 2005.
“First and foremost, let’s give a shout-out to the late, great Luther Vandross,” he said, before Lamar noted Vandross is one of his “favorite” artists “of all time.”
It seemed people in the audience noticed Cher’s flub and got a kick out of it, and viewers also flocked to social media.
“Oh that poor lady confused as hell bless your heart Cher,” one wrote. “Somebody check on Cher … ,” another person echoed. “Cher didn’t know she had to work tonight #GRAMMYs2026,” a third quipped. “Cher had no clue what was going on and that’s okay,” a fourth sounded off.
“Congrats to Kendrick Lamar and SZA for resurrecting Luther Vandross so that Cher could let us know he won!” a fifth wrote.
While many were having a field day with Cher’s mishap, others rallied in her defense. “Come on people Cher did her best and is a LEGEND. People make mistakes give it a rest. People just wish they was popular [and] talented like she always has been,” one wrote.
When Noah resumed his hosting duties, he joked, “I love live television.”
Meanwhile, many fans celebrated Cher’s big accomplishment. The “Believe” hitmaker received a standing ovation but told the crowd to take a seat as she made her remarks.
“I knew what I wanted to be when I was five years old, and I was famous at 19, and had a top rated show in my twenties, actually,” Cher said. “But it didn’t occur to me how rough my career was going to be and my life was going to be. And I’m not saying, ‘Oh, poor me,’ but whatever. I was either a loser or winning an Oscar. I’m sure a lot of you in the audience know what I’m talking about.”
“The thing I want to tell you, the only thing I wanted you to take away with you, and I’ve been in this business,” she continued. “Never give up on your dream, no matter what happens. Live it, be it, and if it’s not happening now, it will happen soon. So that’s all I have to say. Thank you.”
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