Kendrick Lamar Pays Tribute to Luther Vandross After Winning Record of the Year for 'Luther' at Grammys 2026

Kendrick Lamar won the award for Record of the Year at the Grammys and paid tribute to Luther Vandross during his acceptance speech.

The 38-year-old rapper and his collaborator, SZA, won for their song “Luther” at the 2026 Grammy Awards on Sunday (February 1) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Cher presented the award and seemed confused while announcing the winner. She initially said that Luther Vandross won the award, even though he died back in 2005.

When he got to the stage, Kendrick talked about Vandross‘ impact on the song.

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“Luther Vandross… this is special to me. I gotta take my time. He’s one of my favorite artists of all time. They granted us the privilege to do our version of ['If This World Were Mine']. When we got that clearance, we all dropped a tear because we know how much you and Cheryl Linn poured into that record. And being able to put our vocals on it, it proves that we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as those individuals,” he said.

SZA spoke out about what’s going on in our country.

She said, “Please don’t fall into despair. I know that right now is a scary time. We can go on—we need each other. We are not governed by the government; we’re governed by God.”

Check out the full list of winners from the Grammys!