Cher was left a little red-faced after messing up the announcement of this year’s Record of the Year winner.
The music legend was tasked with announcing the winner of one of tonight’s most sought-after awards, and it’s safe to say it could have gone a lot smoother.
Firstly, when accepting her Lifetime Achievement Award, she forgot that wasn’t the only reason she was on stage – the other to announce Record of the Year – and she walked off before doing so.
Then, the ‘Believe’ hitmaker was staring at a teleprompter to tell her who had won to then realizing the name was in the envelope she was holding. After that, when she did open the envelope, she called out the wrong name.
“Oh! They told me it was going to be on the prompter,” Cher exclaimed as the audience started giggling.
Then she proceeded to announce the winner of this year’s Record of the Year as Luther Vandross… who died 20 years ago.
Cher was left red-faced after fumbling her announcement but Kendrick and co took it like champs (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The camera then went to show the actual winner, that being Kendrick Lamar and SZA, as Cher corrected herself.
The mix-up was a result of the name of the winning song being ‘luther’. SZA also featured on the track that actually samples Vandross’ song, ‘If This World Were Mine’.
When they went up to stage to accept the award, Cher started profusely apologizing to everyone.
While Cher will be rather embarrassed about the incident, lots of people online have hailed her as ‘iconic’.
See it here:
“the Grammy goes to Luther Vandross.” — Cher announcing the winner of ‘Record of the Year’ at the #GRAMMYs.
“An honest mistake, but still iconic,” somebody said.
Echoing similar sentiments, another person penned: “Cher fumbled that announcement so bad lmao. Said Luther Vandross instead of the song luther. Icon energy but that was rough, someone get her the right card next time.”
Kendrick and SZA took home one of the nights massive wins. (Kevin Winter / Staff / Getty)
“The pause, the name mix‑up, the absolute chaos — only Cher could accidentally turn a Record of the Year announcement into camp television history,” a third wrote on social media.
I guess that’s another one to add to our list of most awkward moments in Grammys history…
Here are a few others to have happened over the years:
Jennifer Lopez and that green dress (2000)
Now, this is more embarrassing for the academy than it is for J.Lo, but in the year 2000, the ‘On the Floor’ singer rocked up to the Grammys in a green, deep plunge Versace dress.
What’s awkward about that? Well, the dress was so spectacular that people didn’t care about the ceremony and its winners, but instead Googled The Back-Up Plan actress so much that she became the reason Google Images was created. We should be thanking her, really.
Lady Gaga’s infamous entrance (2011)
Now, we’re not talking meat dresses, but we are talking eggs. Yes, that’s right. How could we forget the ‘Bad Romance’ singer’s bizarre entrance to the 2011 Grammys – arriving in an egg being carried across the red carpet.
But it didn’t end there as Gaga remained in the egg until her albeit notable performance of ‘Born This Way’. To this day, people are still scratching their heads on why it was necessary – but we’ll probably never know.
Nicki Minaj and the exorcism (2012)
Today, Nicki Minaj might have rubbed her fans the wrong way, but back in 2012, she was that girl. So, a performance at the biggest music event of the year was expected.
What wasn’t expected was her performance of ‘Roman Holiday’, where she, dressed as a nun, performed an exorcism-inspired scene, leaving people visibly shocked and disturbed. What might have been seen as an artistic choice for some was certainly seen as awkward and uncomfortable by others.
Taylor Swift and her ‘Red’ nomination (2014)
It wouldn’t be a Grammys award ceremony if Taylor Swift wasn’t nominated for something, but back in 2014, when everyone was betting on Red winning Album of the Year, the presenter decided to have a little fun with her.
When reading out who won, they said: “RRRRRRR-Random Access Memories.” As you can imagine, Swift’s face went from ‘OMG’ to ‘WTH’ pretty quickly.
Kanye West interrupting another artist on stage (2015)
Swifties, relax – this one’s not about the ‘Cruel Summer’ hitmaker but is about an artist named Beck.
Beck might not have as many Grammys or Grammy nominations as Swift, but the two do have one thing in common – an interruption from Kanye on the world stage as he tells them they shouldn’t have won over Beyoncé.
Although it seemed like his interruption of Beck was a skit, people didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and things only got more awkward when Ye later told Beck he should respect ‘real artistry’ and give the award to Beyoncé.
People are sharing their thoughts on Miley Cyrus’ reaction to losing out to Lady Gaga at this evening’s Grammys.
Both Cyrus and Gaga were nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, alongside the likes of Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, and Teddy Swims.
The usual etiquette is that you at least pretend to look happy for the person who wins the award over you, but sometimes that’s easier said than done — something which the likes of Angela Bassett knows all too well.
Teyana Taylor and Nikki Glaser announced Gaga as the winner and the camera panned to show the ‘Abracadabra’ songstress, putting her face into her hands and bursting into tears.
Her fiancé Michael Polansky then sweetly kissed her head before she made her way into to stage to receive her accolade.
Lady Gaga won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The camera then panned to fellow nominee Carpenter, who was stood up and clapping for Gaga, before it went to Cyrus and her new fiancé, Maxx Morando.
Cyrus and Morando remained seated as those around them stood for Gaga, and the ‘Flowers’ hitmaker looked a little bit jaded.
Eagle-eyed Grammys viewers spotted Cyrus’ reaction.
One said on Twitter: “Miley Cyrus not standing or clapping when Gaga won….”
Another labeled Cyrus as appearing to be ‘salty as hell’.
A third went on: “Now I need an explanation on why Miley sat for Gaga….”
Others questioned if Cyrus and Gaga have beef with one another.
See the awkward moment here:
“[A las mujeres dedicadas a la música], quiero animarlas a que siempre se escuchen a sí mismas y luchen por sus ideas. Luchen por sus canciones. Luchen por ustedes mismas como productoras”. – Lady Gaga al ganar el premio al Mejor Álbum Pop Vocal. #GRAMMYs
In her speech, Gaga thanked her partner Polansky for all of his support.
“I have to say thank you first to my partner Michael,” she gushed. “I love you so much. You are by my side every single day in a way that I can’t thank you enough for. You worked so hard with me on this record and all year. So I love you and thank you.”
Another big talking point of this evening has been Chappell Roan’s NSFW dress on the red carpet.
‘The Subway’ singer rocked up tonight’s star-studded event in a very revealing dress that included detailing attached to her nipples.
Chappell Roan showcased a racy dress at the Grammys (Brianna Bryson/WireImage)
Breaking down her body language, expert Darren Stanton said her confidence was ‘off the scale’.
“Off the scale confidence from Chappell Roan. She puts her hands behind her back, which shows a clear confidence, and someone who feels comfortable in their body and not afraid to be photographed,” he told
“Being pictured and in the limelight appears to act as a confidence boost to her. She’s outgoing and very brash, I’ve not seen levels like this in a very long time on a red carpet. She flashes a ‘chin thrust’ gesture, which is a clear sign of strength.”
The most shocking Grammys snubs that got everyone talking
Best New Artist: Esperanza Spalding vs everyone else in the category (2011)
Cast your mind back to 2011: Adele had us all belting out ‘Someone Like You’, LMFAO dropped ‘Party Rock Anthem’, and Maroon 5 gave us ‘Moves Like Jagger’.
One person I never heard anyone recommending me to add to my playlist, however, was Esperanza Spalding – and if you said ‘who?’, you aren’t the only one. I’m sure the American Bassist has her audience, but in 2011, she got a whole new audience of people who were p*ssed off with her for beating out now-powerhouses Drake, Justin Bieber and Florence and the Machine. She also won over Mumford & Sons, but, yeah.
Best New Artist: Fun over Frank Ocean (2013)
The clue’s in the band name, the song ‘We Are Young’ was a fun musical experience with catchy lyrics, and Janelle Monáe featured. That being said, Frank Ocean has released only two studio albums – the last one being in 2016 – and the world has not stopped demanding more.
I haven’t reached the corner of the internet where people are demanding Fun to release new music…
Album of the Year: Beck’s Morning Phase over Beyoncé’s Beyoncé (2015)
No shade to Beck, I’m sure the album was just fine, but this snub really made people consider whether or not the Grammys were even worth celebrating.
The AOTY category is always a contentious one, but from the spontaneous drop to reinventing the album experience, Beyoncé won that year – even if she doesn’t have the gong to show for it.
Album of the Year: Adele’s 25 over Beyoncé’s Lemonade (2017)
Another snub for Beyoncé? Now, this one hurts because both Bey and Adele are powerhouses in the music industry who both had great albums that year. However, Beyoncé’s Lemonade was a cultural phenomenon that has gone down in history, being named the Rolling Stones’ best album of the 21st century.
Song of the Year: Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ (2016)
Ed Sheeran is quite a divisive artist when it comes to popularity: some have him as their first dance at their wedding, while others turn off the radio whenever one of his earworms are played.
That being said, the numbers speak for themselves and with 3,018,159,869 streams and over a million daily streams, his success is undeniable. However, ‘Alright’ by Kendrick Lamar, much like Beyoncé’s Lemonade, has undeniable cultural impact. With Pharrell producing, it’s an homage to the What’s Going On? era and its ability to get everyone in a room jumping; Kendrick really was robbed.