Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was named record of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards, giving Lamar his second straight win in the category after he took it in 2025 with his smash hit Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
The Compton-born rapper is one of only four acts in Grammy history who’ve gone back to back in record of the year, along with Billie Eilish, U2 and Roberta Flack.
Built on a prominent sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet “If This World Were Mine” (itself a cover of the song Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell introduced in 1967), “Luther” is from Lamar’s sixth studio album, “GNX,” which came out in November 2024.
“Luther forever. Cheryl, thank you so much,” Lamar said, closing out his acceptance speech. Cher announced the winner after accepting a lifetime achievement award, at first just reading off Vandross’ name — following some confusion when she began to walk off stage, then turned around, before reading off the nominees. She appeared to not know where to find the name of the winner but caught on to the fact that the song samples Vandross.
“Luther Vandross,” Lamar said, laughing with others on stage and the crowd, “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 damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much him and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record and being able to put our vocals in it, it proves we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.” The only catch was they couldn’t curse, he added smiling. Vandross died in 2005.
The song — which was produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington — spent 13 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100, longer than any other single in 2025. On Spotify, “Luther” has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times.
For her part, SZA asked the audience to not fall into despair.
“I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars and there’s been plagues and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other,” SZA said. “We’re not governed by the government. We’re governed by God.”
“Luther” also won melodic rap performance. Other Grammy wins for Lamar include rap album for “GNX,” rap song for “TV Off” and rap performance for “Chains & Whips” by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Lamar and Pharrell Williams. Lamar is now the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history, with 27 total wins. He is also the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
The other songs nominated for record of the year were Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Times staff writers Jessica Gelt and Brittany Levine Beckman contributed to this report.
