Grammys executive producer Ben Winston didn’t mind that Cher suffered a series of mishaps while presenting one of the most important awards during this year’s biggest night in music.
“I promise you, we had briefed her, and I promise you, what she had to do was in the prompter,” Winston, 44, told Rolling Stone during the outlet’s “Music Now” podcast on Monday.
“If I could go back in time, I’d want that to happen again,” he added, referencing the pop legend’s hit song “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Cher, 79, received a standing ovation when she took to the Grammys stage for the first time in 18 years on Sunday night to receive her lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.
But the “Believe” singer, who was also tasked with announcing the record of the year winner, began to walk off the stage before presenting the award – forcing six-time host Trevor Noah to call her back.
“You’ve just gotta get up and bring her back,” Winston recalled telling the comedian, who ultimately led Cher back to the microphone.
The confusion didn’t end there, however, because the Goddess of Pop then paused for a few moments as the crowd waited to hear who won.
“Oh, they told me it was going to be on the prompter!” she exclaimed before opening the envelope for record of the year and reading out “Luther Grandoss,” whom many viewers interpreted as Luther Vandross.
Vandross, an R&B legend who received eight Grammys during his prolific career, died in 2005 at the age of 54.
Of course, the real winners of record of the year were Kendrick Lamar and SZA for their song “Luther,” which explained Cher’s mix-up.
Although Cher appeared to apologize to Lamar, 38, and SZA, 36, as they took to the stage to accept their Grammy, Winston revealed that the “Strong Enough” singer wasn’t embarrassed about the entire mishap.
“She’s happy with it. She had a great time,” he said. “You want a bit of anarchy.”
Lamar and SZA weren’t stressed about the confusion either, and the “Kill Bill” singer even came to Cher’s defense during an interview shortly after the night’s awards ceremony concluded.
During a chat with Entertainment Tonight, SZA noted that her and Lamar’s Grammy-winning track sampled Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s popular cover of “If This World Were Mine,” which may have explained Cher’s initial confusion.
“We share the frequency of the song. Like, that’s his frequency that allowed us to win and that allowed it to be memorable,” SZA told the outlet. “So, she’s not wrong, and she’s from that era. She probably really knew Luther Vandross.”
“Of course, her brain and her energy is connecting that energy to the energy that we’re sharing,” SZA added. “We’re mooching off of what Luther already gave us, so we’re grateful.”
Read the full article here
