Kendrick Lamar and SZA took home Record of the Year at the 2026 Grammys for “Luther,” their chart-dominating R&B ballad from Lamar’s album GNX. The song beat out fellow nominees Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway,” and Bruno Mars and Rosé’s “APT.”
Cher presented the Grammy to Lamar, SZA, and producers including Sounwave and Jack Antonoff — though she momentarily misread her card and thought the winner was the late Luther Vandross himself. “This is what music is about,” said Lamar, who noted that Vandross’ estate asked for “no cursing” on the song. “Luther Vandross is 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 all near dropped to tears…. It proved we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals. They granted us that.”
SZA, meanwhile, urged the audience “not to fall into despair” in the face of current events. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” samples Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine,” originally performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Producer Sounwave told Rolling Stone that “Luther” was originally just an interlude. “There were no drums. It was literally me chopping the sample and Dot just humming melodies,” he recalled. “We had the sample… forever, we just never could crack it. But once he hit this one specific melody, I knew that this had to be bigger.”
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The song spent 13 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it both Lamar and SZA’s longest-charting number-one song and the second longest-running hip-hop song of all time on the Hot 100, behind only Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”
Lamar and SZA first performed “Luther” to a massive audience during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show last year, and then played it nightly on their joint tour. The song was produced by Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Roselilah, M-Tech, Scott Bridgeway, and Kamasi Washington, and written by Lamar, SZA, Ink, and Sam Dew.
