Grammys executive producer Ben Winston has defended Cher following her chaotic announcement of the Record of the Year winner, insisting the mishap was not the show's fault. The 79-year-old singer mistakenly named Luther Vandross as the winner instead of Kendrick Lamar and SZA, whose song 'Luther' won the award.
Speaking on Rolling Stone's Music Now podcast, Winston said Cher had been properly briefed and the correct information was in the teleprompter. 'I promise you, we had briefed her, and I promise you, what she had to do was in the prompter,' he stated. Despite the error, Winston said he would not change the moment, adding: 'I'd want that to happen again. Cher's happy with it. She had a great time. You want a bit of anarchy.'
Earlier in the evening, Cher received the Lifetime Achievement Award, telling the crowd: 'Never give up on your dream, no matter what happens.' She later returned to present Record of the Year, but confusion arose when she began to leave the stage prematurely. Host Trevor Noah called her back, joking: 'I could do it, but it's not the same; I don't have the track record.'
Cher then appeared irked, saying she expected the winner to be on the teleprompter rather than in the envelope. After a pause, she announced 'Luther Vandross' before quickly correcting herself to 'Kendrick Lamar.' The winning song 'Luther' samples Vandross's 1982 collaboration with Cheryl Lynn, which may have caused the confusion. Accepting the award, Lamar paid tribute to Vandross, calling him 'one of my favourite artists of all time.'
