Grammy Awards executive producer Ben Winston didn’t care that Cher suffered a series of accidents while presenting one of the most important awards on music’s biggest night this year.
“I promise you, we explained it to her, and I promise you, all she had to do was in a teleprompter,” Winston, 44, told Rolling Stone on Monday on the station’s “Music Now” podcast.
“If I could go back in time, I’d like it to happen again,” he added, referencing the pop legend’s hit song “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Cher, 79, took to the Grammys stage Sunday night for the first time in 18 years to accept the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award and received a standing ovation.
But the “Believe” singer, who was also tasked with announcing the Record of the Year winner, began to walk off stage before handing out the award and was called back by six-time host Trevor Noah.
“I have to stand up and bring her back,” Winston recalled telling the comedian, ultimately leading Cher to the microphone.
But the confusion didn’t end there. Because the goddess of pop paused for a moment while the crowd waited to hear who won.
“Oh, I was told it would show up on the teleprompter!” she exclaimed before opening the envelope of that year’s records and reading “Luther Grandis,” which many viewers interpreted as Luther Vandross.
Vandross, an R&B legend who won eight Grammy Awards during his prolific career, died in 2005 at the age of 54.
Of course, the real winners of this year’s Record of the Year award were Kendrick Lamar and SZA for their song “Luther,” which explains Cher’s mix-up.
Cher appeared to apologize to Lamar, 38, and SZA, 36, who took to the stage to accept the Grammys, but Winston revealed that the “Strong Enough” singer is not embarrassed about the whole incident.
“She’s happy with it. She had a great time,” he said. “You want a little bit of anarchy.”
Lamar and SZA also weren’t stressed about the turmoil, with the “Kill Bill” singer even defending Cher in an interview shortly after that night’s awards ceremony.
In a chat with Entertainment Tonight, SZA pointed out that her and Lamar’s Grammy-winning song sampled Vandross and Sheryl Lynn’s popular cover of “If This World Were Mine,” which may have explained Cher’s initial confusion.
“We share a frequency for this song. Like, it’s his frequency that allowed us to win and make it memorable,” SZA told the outlet. “I mean, she’s not wrong. She’s from that era. Maybe she really knew Luther Vandross.”
“Of course, her brain and energy connect that energy to the energy that we share,” SZA added. “We are grateful because we are wasting what Luther has already given us.”
