Kendrick Lamar and SZA took home Record of the Year at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, as Luther emerged as the top honor at the 68th annual ceremony.
The win gives Lamar back-to-back victories in the category, following his 2025 triumph with Not Like Us, and places him in rare company. Only four acts in Grammy history have managed consecutive Record of the Year wins: Billie Eilish, U2, Roberta Flack, and now Kendrick Lamar.
Released as part of Lamar’s sixth studio album GNX in November 2024, Luther is built around a prominent sample from Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 duet If This World Were Mine, itself a reinterpretation of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell original introduced in 1967. The song blends nostalgia with modern precision, anchoring one of Lamar’s most commercially dominant eras.
Accepting the award, Lamar kept his remarks brief and reverent, simply declaring “Luther forever.” The trophy was presented by Cher, who had moments earlier been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and initially teased the audience by reading Vandross’ name before announcing the winner.
Produced by Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, Roselilah, Sounwave, and Kamasi Washington, Luther proved to be a commercial juggernaut. The track spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the longest run of any song released in 2025, and has surpassed 1.3 billion streams on Spotify.
The Record of the Year category was stacked, with nominees including DTMF by Bad Bunny, Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter, Anxiety by Doechii, Wildflower by Billie Eilish, Abracadabra by Lady Gaga, The Subway by Chappell Roan, and Apt. by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Earlier in the night, Lamar added to his historic run by winning Best Rap Album for GNX, officially surpassing Jay-Z as the most-awarded rapper in Grammy history. Already a multiple-time winner earlier in the day, Lamar downplayed the milestone in his acceptance speech, calling it “hip hop as usual.”
“I’m not great at talking about myself, I let the music do that,” he told the audience at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena. “Hip hop is always going to be here. We’re going to show up, look good, bring our people, and bring the culture with us.”
He closed by thanking the crowd and giving credit where he felt it belonged. “To God is the glory,” Lamar said. “Love y’all.”
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