Kendrick Lamar and SZA emerged victorious, taking home the Record of the Year Grammy at the 2026 ceremony for their chart-topping R&B ballad "Luther," from Lamar's album GNX. The song triumphed over fellow nominees, including 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 award to Lamar, SZA, and the producers, including Sounwave and Jack Antonoff, though she momentarily misread her cue and thought the winner was the late Luther Vandross himself.
"This is what music is about," said Lamar, noting that Vandross' estate had requested "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 nearly dropped to tears... It proved we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them. 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," she said.
"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."
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.
