Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s ‘Luther’ Is a Grammy Natural, but Luther Vandross Waited Years to Win His First Grammy

The R&B legend left the Grammy ceremony empty-handed six times before he finally won.

Mar 24, 2025 - 20:32

Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s ‘Luther’ Is a Grammy Natural, but Luther Vandross Waited Years to Win His First Grammy

Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s old-school R&B smash “Luther,” now is in its fifth week atop the Billboard Hot 100, sounds like a natural to receive Grammy nods for record and song of the year when the nominations for the 2026 awards are announced later this year. The song, a nod to R&B legend Luther Vandross, contains a sample of Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine,” which was originally recorded in 1967 by another legendary pair, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Its multi-format success in 2025 shows that old-school R&B songwriting values can still be embraced in today’s hip-hop-dominated R&B culture.

But while “Luther” may find favor next year with Grammy voters, Vandross had to wait nine years from his first Grammy nominations in 1982 until he finally won. His Grammy track record stood at 0-9 until he finally scored a W with “Here and Now,” which was voted best R&B vocal performance, male in 1991.

Vandross was nominated for best new artist at the 1982 ceremony, but lost to Scottish pop singer Sheena Easton (who got off to a faster start, with a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Morning Train (Nine to Five),” and another top five hit with the Oscar-nominated James Bond theme “For Your Eyes Only”). More surprisingly, Vandross was nominated for best R&B vocal performance six times before he finally won in that category. That’s striking because Vandross is regarded as one of the premier R&B male vocalists of his time, and of all time.

Vandross, who suffered a severe stroke in 2003 and died in 2005 at age 54, won four Grammys during his lifetime. He won four more in the year following his death, including song of the year for “Dance With My Father,” which he co-wrote with Richard Marx.

Vandross isn’t the only R&B veteran who had to wait a good long while to finally win a Grammy. Gaye, who both wrote and recorded the original version of “If This World Were Mine,” had to wait even longer (15 years from the time of his first nomination) to win his first Grammys in 1983. His Grammy track record stood at 0-8 before he finally won best R&B vocal performance, male for his smash “Sexual Healing” and best R&B instrumental performance for an instrumental version that appeared on the B-side of that smash. Tragically, he was killed by his father less than 14 months after his belated double-Grammy triumph.

Vandross and Gaye have nothing on Lionel Richie, whose Grammy track record was a dismal 0-18 before he finally won best pop vocal performance, male, for “Truly,” also in 1983. Richie went on to win album of the year (for Can’t Slow Down) and song of the year (for “We Are the World,” a co-write with Michael Jackson), so we tend to think of him as Grammy royalty, but he had to wait a long while to be admitted to the club.

Lamar’s “Squabble Up” is also a strong candidate for Grammy nods in marquee categories. If either “Luther” or “Squabble Up” wins record or song of the year, coming on the heels of his wins in both categories on Feb. 2 with “Not Like Us,” Lamar would make Grammy history. He would become the fourth artist to win back-to-back Grammys for record of the year (following Roberta Flack, U2 and Billie Eilish), and only the second songwriter to win back-to-back Grammys for song of the year (following Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, who won for co-writing H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” in 2021 and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” the following year).

The nominations for the 68th annual Grammy Awards are expected in November. The ceremony is expected in February 2026.