Cher

Life and career

1946-1961: Early life

Cheryl Sarkisian was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. Her father, John Sarkisian, an Armenian-American truck driver with drug and gambling problems, was rarely present during her early life. Her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch), was a model and actress of Irish, English, German and Cherokee descent. Cher's paternal grandparents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Her parents divorced when she was ten months old, and Holt later married actor John Southall, with whom she had Cher's half-sister, Georganne. Holt's marriage to Southall ended when Cher was nine. Cher later described Southall as her "real father", calling him a "good-natured man who turned belligerent when he drank too much".

Holt remarried and divorced several times, frequently moving the family across states, including New York, Texas and California. They often struggled financially, and Cher recalled using rubber bands to hold her shoes together. At one point, Holt left Cher at an orphanage for several weeks; although they met every day, both found the experience traumatic. While living in Los Angeles, Holt pursued acting while working as a waitress, occasionally securing minor television roles for her daughters in shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

By fifth grade, Cher organized a class performance of the musical Oklahoma!, taking on male roles when boys refused to participate. Even at age nine, her voice was unusually low. Fascinated by film stars, Cher idolized Audrey Hepburn, particularly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), emulating Hepburn's character's unconventional outfits and demeanor. She also admired Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, but felt discouraged by the lack of dark-haired actresses in Hollywood. As a child, she dreamed of fame but struggled with feelings of inadequacy, describing herself as "unattractive" and "untalented". Reflecting on her ambitions, she later said, "I couldn't think of anything that I could do ... I just thought, 'I'll be famous'. That was my goal."

In 1961, Holt married bank manager Gilbert LaPiere, who adopted Cher (under the name Cheryl LaPiere) and Georganne and enrolled them at Montclair College Preparatory School, a private school in Encino. Coming from a modest background, Cher faced challenges in the upper-class environment, where, as biographer Connie Berman wrote, her "striking appearance" and "outgoing personality" set her apart. A former classmate recalled, "I'll never forget seeing Cher for the first time. She was so special ... like a movie star, right then and there ... She said she was going to be a movie star and we knew she would." Known for her creativity and wit, Cher excelled in French and English but struggled with other subjects, later discovering she has dyslexia. Her unconventional behavior also stood out: she performed songs for students during lunch and surprised peers when she wore a midriff-baring top. Cher later reflected, "I was never really in school. I was always thinking about when I was grown up and famous."

1962-1967: Solo musical breakthrough and Sonny & Cher

At 16, Cher left school and moved out of her mother's house to live with a friend. She took acting classes and supported herself by dancing in nightclubs along Hollywood's Sunset Strip, where she introduced herself to performers, managers and agents. According to Berman, "[Cher] did not hesitate to approach anyone she thought could help her get a break". Cher met performer Sonny Bono in November 1962 when he was working for record producer Phil Spector. Cher's friend moved out and Cher accepted Sonny's offer to be his housekeeper. Sonny introduced Cher to Spector, who used her as a backup singer on many recordings, including the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Spector produced her first single, "Ringo, I Love You", which Cher recorded under the name Bonnie Jo Mason. Many radio programmers rejected the song, mistaking Cher's deep contralto for a man's voice and assuming it was a male homosexual singing a love song to the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Cher and Sonny became close friends, eventual lovers and performed their own unofficial wedding ceremony in a hotel room in Tijuana, Mexico, on October 27, 1964. Although Sonny had wanted to launch Cher as a solo artist, she encouraged him to perform with her because she suffered from stage fright and he began joining her onstage, singing the harmonies. Cher disguised her nervousness by looking at Sonny; she later commented that she sang to the people through him. In late 1964, they emerged as a duo called Caesar & Cleo, releasing the poorly received singles "Do You Wanna Dance?", "Love Is Strange" and "Let the Good Times Roll".

Cher signed with Liberty Records' Imperial imprint in the end of 1964 and Sonny became her producer. The single "Dream Baby", released under the name "Cherilyn", received airplay in Los Angeles. Imperial encouraged Cher to work with Sonny on her second solo single for the label, a cover of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do". It peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the UK Singles Chart in 1965. Meanwhile, the Byrds had released their own version of the same song. When competition on the singles charts started between Cher and the Byrds, the group's record label began to promote the B-side of the Byrds' single. Roger McGuinn of the Byrds commented, "We loved the Cher version ... We didn't want to hassle. So we just turned our record over." Cher's debut album, All I Really Want to Do (1965), reached number 16 on the Billboard 200; it was later described by AllMusic's Tim Sendra as "one of the stronger folk-pop records of the era".

In early 1965, Caesar and Cleo began calling themselves Sonny & Cher. Following the recording of "I Got You Babe", they traveled to England in July 1965 at the Rolling Stones' advice; Cher recalled, "[they] had told us ... that Americans just didn't get us and that if we were going to make it big, we were going to have to go to England." According to writer Cintra Wilson,

English newspaper photographers showed up when S&C were thrown out of the London Hilton [because of their outfits] the night they arrived?literally overnight, they were stars. London went gaga for the heretofore-unseen S&C look, which was neither mod nor rocker.

"I Got You Babe" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became, according to AllMusic's Bruce Eder, "one of the biggest-selling and most beloved pop/rock hits of the mid-'60s"; Rolling Stone listed it among "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2003. As the song knocked the Beatles off the top of the British charts, English teenagers began to emulate Sonny and Cher's fashion style, such as bell-bottoms, striped pants and fur vests. Upon their return to the US, the duo made several appearances on the teen-pop showcases Hullabaloo and Shindig! and completed a tour of some of the largest arenas in the US. Their shows attracted Cher look-alikes, with girls straightening and dyeing their hair black to emulate her style, often pairing it with vests and bell-bottoms.

Sonny and Cher's first album, Look at Us (1965), released for the Atco Records division of Atlantic Records, spent eight weeks at number two on the Billboard 200, behind the Beatles' Help!. The duo successfully competed with the dominant British Invasion and Motown sounds of the era. Author Joseph Murrells described Sonny and Cher as "leading exponents of the rock-folk-message type of song", blending rock instrumentation with folk themes and protest lyrics. They charted ten Billboard top 40 singles between 1965 and 1972, including five top-ten singles: "I Got You Babe", "Baby Don't Go", "The Beat Goes On", "All I Ever Need Is You" and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done". At one point, they had five songs in the top 50 at the same time, a feat equaled only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Together they had become, according to Time magazine's Ginia Bellafante, rock's "it" couple.

Cher's subsequent releases kept her solo career competitive with her work with Sonny. The Sonny Side of Chér (1966) features "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", which reached number two in the US and number three in the UK and became her first million-seller solo single. Chér, also released in 1966, contains the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition "Alfie", which was added to the credits of the American version of the 1966 film of the same name and became the first stateside version of the popular song. With Love, Chér (1967) includes songs described by biographer Mark Bego as "little soap-opera stories set to rock music" such as the US top-ten single "You Better Sit Down Kids".

1967-1970: From counterculture icon to lounge act

By the late 1960s, Sonny and Cher's music stopped charting. Berman observed that the "heavy, loud sound" of bands such as Jefferson Airplane and Cream made their folk-rock feel "too bland." Cher later said she "loved" the new electric-guitar-driven sound of Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton and wanted to adapt, but Sonny refused. Their monogamous lifestyle during the sexual revolution and anti-drug stance at the height of widespread drug use alienated American youths. According to Bego, "in spite of their revolutionary unisex clothes, Sonny and Cher were quite 'square' when it came to sex and drugs." In an attempt to recapture their young audience, the duo produced and starred in the film Good Times (1967), which was commercially unsuccessful.

Cher's album Backstage (1968), in which she explores diverse musical genres including Brazilian jazz and anti-war protest settings, was not a commercial success. In 1969, Cher was dropped from Imperial Records, while Sonny and Cher were dropped from Atco. However, Atco offered her a solo album deal. 3614 Jackson Highway (1969) was recorded without the guidance of Sonny and incorporates experiments in rhythm and blues and soul music. AllMusic's Mark Deming proclaimed it "arguably the finest album of her career" and still "a revelation" decades later. Displeased with the album, Sonny prevented Cher from releasing more recordings for Atco.

Meanwhile, Sonny dated others and by the end of the 1960s their relationship had begun to unravel. According to People magazine, "[Sonny] tried desperately to win her back, telling her he wanted to marry and start a family." They officially married after she gave birth to Chaz Bono on March 4, 1969. The duo spent $500,000 and mortgaged their home to make the film Chastity (1969). Written and produced by Sonny, it tells the story of a young woman, played by Cher, searching for the meaning of life. The art film failed commercially, putting the couple $190,000 in debt with back taxes. However, some critics noted that Cher showed acting potential; Cue magazine wrote, "Cher has a marvelous quality that often makes you forget the lines you are hearing."

At the lowest point of their career, the duo put together a nightclub routine that relied on a more adult approach to sound and style. According to writer Cintra Wilson, "Their lounge act was so depressing, people started heckling them. Then Cher started heckling back. Sonny ... reprimanded her; then she'd heckle Sonny". The heckling became a highlight of the act and attracted viewers. Television executives took note and the couple began making guest appearances on prime-time shows, in which they presented a "new, sophisticated and mature" image. Cher adopted alluring, low-cut gowns that became her signature outfits.

1971-1974: Television stardom and first musical comeback

CBS head of programming Fred Silverman offered Sonny and Cher their own television program after he noticed them as guest-hosts on The Merv Griffin Show in 1971. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour premiered as a summer replacement series on August 1, 1971 and had six episodes. Because it was a ratings success, the couple returned that December with a full-time show.

Watched by more than 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was praised for the comedic timing, as a deadpan Cher mocked Sonny about his looks and short stature. According to Berman, they "exuded an aura of warmth, playfulness and caring that only enhanced their appeal. Viewers were further enchanted when a young [Chaz] appeared on the show. They seemed like a perfect family." Cher honed her acting skills through comedy sketches, including her original character Laverne, a brash and over-the-top housewife, while her Bob Mackie-designed outfits set 1970s fashion trends.

In 1971, Sonny and Cher signed with the Kapp Records division of MCA Records and Cher released the single "Classified 1A", in which she sings from the point of view of a soldier who bleeds to death in Vietnam. Written by Sonny, who felt that her first solo single on the label had to be poignant and topical, the song was rejected by radio station programmers as uncommercial.

Since Sonny's first attempts at reviving their recording career as a duo had also been unsuccessful, Kapp Records recruited Snuff Garrett to work with them. He produced Cher's second US number-one single, "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", which "proved that ... Garrett knew more about Cher's voice and her persona as a singer than Sonny did", writes Bego. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" was the first single by a solo artist to rank number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the same time as on the Canadian Singles Chart. Billboard called it "one of the 20th century's greatest songs". It was featured on the 1971 album Chér (eventually reissued under the title Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves), which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its second single, "The Way of Love", reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and established Cher's more confident image as a recording artist.

In 1972, Cher released the all-ballad set Foxy Lady, demonstrating the evolution of her vocal abilities, according to Bego. Following the release, Garrett quit as producer after disagreeing with Sonny about the kind of material Cher should record. At Sonny's insistence, in 1973 Cher released an album of standards called Bittersweet White Light, which was commercially unsuccessful. That year, lyricist Mary Dean brought Garrett "Half-Breed", a song about the daughter of a Cherokee mother and a white father, which she had written especially for Cher. Although Garrett did not have Cher as a client at the time, he was convinced that "it's a smash for Cher and for nobody else", so he held the song for months until he got Cher back. "Half-Breed" was featured on the album of the same name and became Cher's third US number-one single. Both the album and the single were certified gold by the RIAA.

In 1974, Cher released the song "Dark Lady" as the lead single from the namesake album. It reached the top position on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cher's fourth number-one single and making her the female artist with the most number-one singles in United States history at the time. Later that year, she released a Greatest Hits album that, according to Billboard magazine, proved her to be "one of the most consistent hitmakers of the past five years", as well as a "proven superstar who always sells records". Between 1971 and 1973, Sonny and Cher's recording career was revived with four albums released under Kapp Records and MCA Records: Sonny & Cher Live (1971), All I Ever Need Is You (1972), Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer, Papa Used to Write All Her Songs (1973) and Live in Las Vegas Vol. 2 (1973). Cher later commented that her tight schedule during this period required her to record entire albums in just a few days while also touring and filming The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

1974-1979: Divorce from Sonny Bono, marriage to Gregg Allman and decline in popularity

Cher and Sonny had had marital problems since late 1972, but appearances were maintained until 1974. "The public still thinks we are married," Sonny wrote in his diary at the time, "[and] that's the way it has to be." In February 1974, Sonny filed for separation, citing "irreconcilable differences". A week later, Cher countered with a divorce suit and charged Sonny with "involuntary servitude", claiming that he withheld her rightful share of their earnings. The couple battled in court over finances and the custody of Chaz, which was eventually granted to Cher. Their divorce was finalized on June 26, 1975.

During the divorce proceedings, Cher had a two-year romantic relationship with record executive David Geffen, who helped free her from a restrictive business arrangement with Sonny. Under the terms of this arrangement, Cher was required to work exclusively for Cher Enterprises, a company 95% owned by Sonny and 5% by his lawyer. She was considered an employee of the company, with no control over her career and finances. Cher won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in 1974. That year, Sonny premiered a solo show, The Sonny Comedy Revue, which carried the creative team behind the Sonny and Cher show. It was canceled after 13 weeks.

In 1975, Cher signed a $2.5 million deal with Warner Bros. Records and began work on her first album with the label. According to Bego, "it was their intention that [this album] was going to make millions of fans around the world take her seriously as a rock star and not just a pop singer." Despite Cher's efforts to expand her musical range by drawing inspiration from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Elton John, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, the resulting album, Stars, was commercially and critically unsuccessful. Janet Maslin of The Village Voice wrote, "Cher is just no rock and roller ... Image, not music, is Cher Bono's main ingredient for both records and TV." Despite its initial failure, the album later gained cult status and is considered among her best work.

On February 16, 1975, Cher debuted her solo CBS show, Cher. It began as a highly rated special with guests Bette Midler, Elton John and Flip Wilson. Produced by Geffen, the show showcased Cher's music, comedy, monologues, and an extensive wardrobe?the largest for a weekly TV series. Critics praised it, with the Los Angeles Times stating, "Sonny without Cher was a disaster. Cher without Sonny, on the other hand, could be the best thing that's happened to weekly television this season." Despite high ratings, the show ended within a year, replaced by a new show reuniting her with ex-husband Sonny. The Ringer's Lindsay Zoladz commented that network censors were stricter with Cher as a single woman, viewing her as more provocative alone than as Sonny's wife. Reflecting later, Cher said, "Doing a show alone was more than I could handle."

On June 30, 1975, four days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny, Cher married rock musician Gregg Allman, co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band. She filed for divorce nine days later because of his heroin and liquor problems, but they reconciled within a month. They had one son, Elijah Blue, on July 10, 1976. Sonny and Cher's TV reunion, The Sonny and Cher Show, debuted on CBS in February 1976?the first show ever to star a divorced couple. Although the show was a ratings success on its premiere, Cher and Sonny's insulting onscreen banter about their divorce, her reportedly extravagant lifestyle and her troubled relationship with Allman caused a public backlash that contributed to the show's cancellation in August 1977.

In 1976, Mego Toys released a line of Sonny & Cher dolls. The Cher doll became the year's best-selling doll, surpassing Barbie. Cher's next albums, I'd Rather Believe in You (1976) and Cherished (1977)?the latter marking a return to her earlier pop storyteller style at Warner's producers' insistence?were commercial failures. Orange Coast magazine's Keith Tuber commented that Cher's weekly TV shows may have hurt her record sales, as audiences could see and hear her without needing to buy her music.

In 1977, under the rubric "Allman and Woman", Cher and Allman recorded the duet album Two the Hard Way. The couple toured Europe to support the album, though audience reception was mixed. With a combination of Cher fans and Allman Brothers fans in attendance, fights frequently broke out at venues, prompting Cher to cancel the tour. Their relationship ended soon after the tour's cancellation, and their divorce was finalized in 1979. In 1978, Cher began a two-year live-in relationship with Kiss member Gene Simmons. She briefly returned to prime time television with the specials Cher... Special (1978)?featuring a segment in which she performs all of the roles in her version of West Side Story? and Cher... and Other Fantasies (1979).

1979-1982: Second musical comeback, from disco success to leading a rock band

In 1979, Cher legally adopted her mononym. Facing financial pressures as a single mother of two, she decided to steer her singing career toward greater commercial success. Temporarily setting aside her desire to be a rock singer, she signed with Casablanca Records and launched a comeback with the single "Take Me Home" and the album of the same name, both of which capitalized on the disco craze. The album and single became instant successes, remained bestsellers for more than half of 1979 and were certified gold by the RIAA. The album's sales were likely enhanced by the image of a scantily clad Cher in a Viking outfit on its cover. Although initially reluctant to embrace disco music, she changed her mind after the success, saying, "I never thought I would want to do disco ... [but] it's terrific! It's great music to dance to. I think that danceable music is what everybody wants."

Encouraged by the popularity of Take Me Home, Cher sought a return to rock with Prisoner (1979). The album cover, showing her naked and draped in chains, symbolized her struggle as a "prisoner of the press" amid intense tabloid scrutiny. The imagery drew criticism from feminist groups for her perceived portrayal of a sex slave, while critics found the album's mix of rock and disco tracks inconsistent, contributing to its commercial failure. The single "Hell on Wheels", featured on the soundtrack of the film Roller Boogie, reflected Cher's personal embrace of the late 1970s roller-skating craze, which she had helped popularize. Cher collaborated with Giorgio Moroder to write "Bad Love", her final Casablanca disco track, for the film Foxes (1980).

In 1980, Cher formed the rock band Black Rose with guitarist and then-partner Les Dudek. To blend in and avoid overshadowing the group with her celebrity status, she adopted a punk-inspired look, cutting her signature long hair. Although she was the lead singer, she chose not to take top billing to present the band as equal. Despite television appearances, the band struggled to book concerts. Their album, Black Rose, received poor reviews; Cher told Rolling Stone, "[Critics] didn't attack the record, they attacked me. It was like, 'How dare Cher sing rock & roll?'" Black Rose disbanded in 1981.

During Black Rose's run, Cher was also performing a residency at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, with two shows nightly, seven days a week, earning $300,000 weekly. Beginning in June 1979 and running until 1982, the residency evolved into Cher's first solo tour, the Take Me Home Tour, as she brought her act to various US cities, as well as Canada, Europe, South Africa and Australia. The concert series yielded two television specials: Standing Room Only: Cher in Concert (1981) and Cher... A Celebration at Caesars (1983), the latter earning her the CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Variety Program. In 1981, Cher collaborated with Meat Loaf on the duet "Dead Ringer for Love", which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and was praised by AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco as "one of the more inspired rock duets of the 1980s". The following year, Cher released the new wave album I Paralyze, a commercial failure and her only album under Columbia Records.

1982-1987: Broadway debut, acting breakthrough and musical hiatus

With declining record sales and radio airplay, Cher shifted her focus to acting. Despite earlier aspirations, her only film credits, Good Times and Chastity, were critical and commercial failures, and Hollywood did not take her seriously as an actress. Reflecting on this period, Cher said, "I was dropped by my [label] and couldn't get a job ... [so] I went to Las Vegas", which she likened to an "elephant's graveyard" for fading stars. Despite her success performing there, she felt unfulfilled: "I was making a fortune ... but I was dying inside." In 1982, she moved to New York to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, but never enrolled. She auditioned for and was cast by Robert Altman in the Broadway production Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, playing a James Dean fan club member at a 20-year reunion. That year, Altman cast her again in the film adaptation of the same title.

Director Mike Nichols, who had seen Cher onstage in Jimmy Dean, offered her the part of Dolly Pelliker, Meryl Streep's lesbian roommate in the film Silkwood. When it premiered in 1983, audiences questioned Cher's ability as an actress. She recalls attending a film preview during which the audience laughed when they saw her name in the credits. For her performance, Cher was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture.

Cher's next film, Mask (1985), reached number two at the box office and was Cher's first critical and commercial success as a leading actress. For her role as a drug addict biker with a disfigured teenage son, she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. During the making of the film, however, she clashed with director Peter Bogdanovich and was ultimately omitted from the Oscar nomination list. She attended the 58th Academy Awards in a tarantula-like costume, later deemed by Vanity Fair's Esther Zuckerman as Cher's "Oscar revenge dress". "As you can see, I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress," Cher declared before presenting the nominees for Best Supporting Actor. The incident garnered her much publicity.

Cher's May 1986 guest appearance on talk show Late Night with David Letterman, during which she called Letterman "an asshole", attracted much media coverage; Letterman later recalled, "It did hurt my feelings. Cher was one of the few people I've really wanted to have on the show ... I felt like a total fool, especially since I say all kinds of things to people." She returned to the show in 1987, reuniting with Sonny for the last time before his death to sing an impromptu version of "I Got You Babe". According to Rolling Stone's Andy Greene, "they weren't exactly the best of friends at this point, but both of them knew it would make for unforgettable television. Had YouTube existed back then, this would have gone insanely viral the next morning."

1987-1992: Hollywood stardom and third musical comeback

Cher starred in three films in 1987. In Suspect, she portrayed a public defender aided and romanced by a juror (Dennis Quaid) in a homicide case. In George Miller's comedy horror The Witches of Eastwick, she was one of three small-town divorcees, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon, who become involved with a mysterious and wealthy visitor (Jack Nicholson). In Norman Jewison's romantic comedy Moonstruck, she played an Italian widow who falls for her fiancé's younger brother (Nicolas Cage). The latter two films ranked among 1987's top ten highest-grossing movies.

The New York Times' Janet Maslin wrote Moonstruck "offers further proof that Cher has evolved into the kind of larger-than-life movie star who's worth watching whatever she does." For that film, Cher won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. By 1988, Cher had become one of the most bankable actresses of the decade, commanding $1 million per film. That year, she released the fragrance Uninhibited, which earned about $15 million in its first year sales.

In 1987, Cher signed with Geffen Records and revived her musical career with what music critics Johnny Danza and Dean Ferguson describe as "her most impressive string of hits to date", establishing her as a "serious rock and roller ... a crown that she'd worked long and hard to capture". Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richie Sambora produced her first Geffen album, Cher. Despite facing strong retail and radio airplay resistance upon its release, the album proved to be a commercial success, certified platinum by the RIAA. Cher features the rock ballad "I Found Someone", Cher's first US top-ten single in more than eight years.

By the late 1980s, Cher had gained a reputation for her exhibitionist fashion sense, plastic surgeries and affairs with younger men. She had romantic relationships with actors Val Kilmer, Eric Stoltz and Tom Cruise, hockey player Ron Duguay, film producer Josh Donen, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and Rob Camilletti, a bagel baker 18 years her junior whom she dated from 1986 to 1989.

Cher's 19th studio album Heart of Stone (1989) was certified triple platinum by the RIAA. The music video for its second single, "If I Could Turn Back Time", caused controversy due to Cher's performance on the battleship USS Missouri, where she straddled a cannon in a leather thong, revealing her tattooed buttocks. The song topped the Australian charts for seven weeks, reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became one of Cher's most successful singles. Other US top-ten singles from the album were "After All", a duet with Peter Cetera and "Just Like Jesse James". Cher won the Favorite All-Around Female Star Award at the 1989 People's Choice Awards and launched the Heart of Stone Tour the same year. Critics praised the tour's nostalgia and Cher's showmanship. A television special, Cher... at the Mirage (1991), was filmed during a Las Vegas concert.

In Mermaids (1990), her first film in three years, Cher drew inspiration from her mother to portray a woman who moves her daughters (Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci) from town to town after failed relationships. She clashed with the film's first two directors, Lasse Hallström and Frank Oz, who were replaced by Richard Benjamin. Producers, seeing Cher as the star attraction, granted her creative control. The film was a box office success and received positive reviews. One of the two songs Cher recorded for the film's soundtrack, a cover of Betty Everett's "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks.

Cher's final studio album with Geffen Records, Love Hurts (1991), spent six weeks at number one in the UK and produced the UK top-ten single "Love and Understanding". The album was certified gold by the RIAA. In later years, Cher commented that her Geffen label "hit years" had been especially significant to her, "because I was getting to do songs that I really loved ... songs that really represented me and they were popular!" In 1991, she published the exercise book Forever Fit, followed by the fitness videos CherFitness: A New Attitude and CherFitness: Body Confidence in 1992. That same year, she embarked on the Love Hurts Tour and released the UK-only compilation album Greatest Hits: 1965-1992, which topped the UK Albums Chart for seven weeks.

1992-1998: From A-list actress to infomercial queen, death of Sonny Bono

According to Berman, the unexpected acclaim for Moonstruck (1987) made Cher "overly cautious" about future roles, mindful of the high expectations. Partly due to her difficult experience filming Mermaids, she turned down leading roles in Thelma & Louise and The War of the Roses. In the early 1990s, she contracted the Epstein-Barr virus and developed chronic fatigue syndrome, leaving her too exhausted for music or film projects. To earn money, she appeared in infomercials for health, beauty and diet products, earning nearly $10 million. These skits were parodied on Saturday Night Live and critics viewed them as a sellout, speculating her film career was over. The 1995 film Clueless references this period, with protagonist Cher Horowitz joking she was named after a "great [singer] of the past who now does infomercials". Cher later remarked, "Suddenly I became the Infomercial Queen ... people stripped me of all my other things."

Cher made cameo appearances in the Robert Altman films The Player (1992) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994). In 1994, she launched a Gothic-themed mail-order catalog, Sanctuary, and contributed a rock version of "I Got You Babe" to MTV's animated sitcom Beavis and Butt-Head. In 1995, she topped the UK Singles Chart with the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge", alongside Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton. That year, she signed with Warner Music UK's WEA label and released It's a Man's World (1995), an album of songs originally performed by men. Critics praised its R&B influences and Cher's vocal growth, with Stephen Holden of The New York Times calling it a "soulful collection of grown-up pop songs" and the highlight of her recording career. The album features "Walking in Memphis", certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and the UK top-ten single "One by One". It reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. A remixed US version, shifting from rock to a more radio-friendly sound, was less successful, peaking at number 64 on the Billboard 200.

In 1996, Cher starred alongside Demi Moore and Sissy Spacek in If These Walls Could Talk (1996), a three-part anthology television film about abortion. This project marked Cher's directorial debut, as she was both the director and star of the film's final segment, playing a doctor targeted by an anti-abortion group. It became the highest-rated original HBO movie to date, attracting 6.9 million viewers. That same year, Cher appeared in Paul Mazursky's dark comedy Faithful, playing the wife of a businessman who hires a hitman (Chazz Palminteri) to kill her. While the film received negative reviews, Cher was praised for her role, with The New York Times' Janet Maslin noting she "does her game best to find comic potential in a victim's role." Cher refused to promote the film, claiming it was "horrible." Her music played a large role in the American TV series The X-Files episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus" (1997). Written with her in mind, it tells the story of a scientist's grotesque creature who idolizes Cher because of her role in Mask, where her character cares for her disfigured son.

Following Sonny Bono's death in a skiing accident in 1998, Cher delivered a tearful eulogy at his funeral, calling him "the most unforgettable character" she had met. She paid tribute to him by hosting the CBS special Sonny & Me: Cher Remembers, which aired on May 20, 1998. That month, Sonny and Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television. Later that year, Cher published The First Time, a collection of autobiographical essays of "first-time" events in her life, which critics praised as down-to-earth and genuine. Although the manuscript was almost finished when Sonny died, she could not decide whether to include his death in the book; she feared being criticized for capitalizing on the event. She told Rolling Stone, "I couldn't ignore it, could I? I might have if I cared more about what people think than what I know is right for me."

1998-2002: Fourth musical comeback and songwriting debut

Cher's 22nd studio album, Believe (1998), marked a departure from her previous rock sound to 1970s disco-inspired dance-pop. It sold 10 million copies worldwide, achieving quadruple platinum status in the US and gold or platinum certifications in 39 countries. Entertainment Weekly described the album as "the most dramatic comeback Hollywood has seen since ... the last time Cher raised her career from the dead", emphasizing its role in introducing her to a new generation of fans who "hadn't yet been born when 'I Got You Babe' ruled the charts in 1965."

Believe's title track reached number one in 23 countries and sold over 10 million copies globally. It was the best-selling single of 1998 in the UK and of 1999 in the US. "Believe" debuted at number one in the UK, held the position for seven weeks and became the UK's best-selling single by a female artist. In the US, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, making Cher, at 52, the oldest female artist to top the chart. "Believe" earned Cher the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording and the 1999 Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year. Rolling Stone listed it among "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2021.

On January 31, 1999, Cher sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", the US national anthem, at the Super Bowl XXXIII. She co-headlined the television special VH1 Divas Live '99, which drew 19.4 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated program in VH1's history at the time. Her Do You Believe? Tour (1999-2000) sold out in every American city it visited, drawing a global audience of over 1.5 million. Its companion television special, Cher: Live in Concert - From the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (1999), achieved a 13.0 rating, making it HBO's highest-rated original program of 1998-1999.

Billboard named Cher the top dance artist of 1999. Her former label, Geffen, capitalized on her success with the US-only compilation If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits (1999), certified gold by the RIAA, while Cher oversaw The Greatest Hits (1999) for international markets, selling three million copies outside the US by January 2000. Cher starred in Franco Zeffirelli's critically acclaimed war film Tea with Mussolini (1999), earning praise for her portrayal of a flamboyant American socialite unwelcome among Englishwomen in Italy. Film Comment remarked, "She manages the movie star trick of being at once a character and at the same time never allowing you to forget: that's Cher", adding that her performance proved "how sorely she's been missed from movie screens."

In 2000, Cher released Not Commercial, an album she wrote after attending a songwriting conference in 1994; it marked her first attempt at writing most of the tracks for an album. Rejected by her label for being uncommercial, she sold it exclusively on her website. The song "Sisters of Mercy", which criticizes as "cruel, heartless and wicked" the nuns who had prevented her mother from retrieving her from a Catholic orphanage, drew condemnation from the Catholic Church. Her dance-focused follow-up to Believe, Living Proof (2001), debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA. It features the UK top-ten single "The Music's No Good Without You" and "Song for the Lonely", a tribute to "the courageous people of New York" following the September 11 attacks. Named Billboard's top dance artist of 2002, Cher received the Artist Achievement Award from Steven Tyler at the 2002 Billboard Music Awards for having "helped redefine popular music with massive success on the Billboard charts." That year, her wealth was estimated at $600 million.

2002-2018: Farewell tours, concert residencies and return to acting and recording

In June 2002, Cher launched the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, promoted as her final concert tour, though she planned to keep recording and acting. Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised it as a celebration of Cher's resilience, highlighting her ability to "triumph over restraint, aging and gravity" and calling her "a hit machine immune to sagging flesh". Initially set for 49 shows, the tour was repeatedly extended. By October 2003, it had become the most successful tour by a female artist, grossing $145 million from 200 shows with 2.2 million attendees. The NBC special Cher: The Farewell Tour drew 17 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated network concert special of 2003 and earning Cher the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).

After leaving Warner UK in 2002, Cher signed a global deal with Warner Bros. Records in September 2003. Forbes named her the highest-paid female musician of 2003, earning $33.1 million. The compilation album The Very Best of Cher (2003) peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. In the Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You (2003), Cher played a satirical version of herself in a relationship with a high schooler (Frankie Muniz), referencing media scrutiny of her relationships with younger men. Cher's Farewell Tour concluded in April 2005 after 325 shows, drawing over 3.5 million attendees and grossing $250 million, ranking among the top-ten highest-grossing tours of the 2000s.

After three years of retirement, Cher began a three-year, 200-show residency in 2008 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, earning a reported $60 million. Titled Cher, the production featured advanced stage effects and over 20 costume changes. In Burlesque (2010), her first musical film since Good Times (1967), she played a nightclub owner mentoring a Hollywood hopeful (Christina Aguilera). Her song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", from the film's soundtrack, topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in January 2011, making Cher the only artist with Billboard number-one singles in six consecutive decades (1960s-2010s).

In 2011, Cher lent her voice to Janet the Lioness in the comedy Zookeeper. Dear Mom, Love Cher, a documentary she produced about her mother Georgia Holt, aired on Lifetime in May 2013. Closer to the Truth (2013), Cher's 25th studio album and the first since 2001's Living Proof, entered the Billboard 200 at number three, her highest position on that chart to date. The Boston Globe's Michael Andor Brodeur commented that "Cher's 'Goddess of Pop' sash remains in little danger of undue snatching; at 67, she sounds more convincing than J-Lo or Madonna reporting from 'the club'". Cher premiered the lead single "Woman's World" on the season four finale of the talent show The Voice, her first live TV performance in over a decade. She later joined the show's season five as judge Blake Shelton's team adviser.

In June 2013, Cher headlined the annual Dance on the Pier benefit, celebrating LGBTQ Pride Day, achieving the event's first full-capacity crowd in five years. She embarked on the Dressed to Kill Tour in March 2014, nearly a decade after announcing her "farewell tour", joking during shows that this would actually be her last farewell tour while crossing fingers. The tour's first leg, comprising 49 sold-out shows in North America, grossed $54.9 million. Later that year, she canceled all remaining dates due to a kidney infection. Cher collaborated with American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan on their 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, credited under her 1964 alias, Bonnie Jo Mason. The album, produced as a single copy and sold via online auction, became the most expensive album ever sold.

After attending the 2015 Met Gala as Marc Jacobs's guest, Cher became the face of his Fall/Winter campaign. In February 2017, she launched Classic Cher, a three-year concert residency at the Park Theater in Las Vegas and The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Washington, D.C. At the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, Cher performed "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time", her first awards show performance in over 15 years. Gwen Stefani presented Cher with the Billboard Icon Award, calling her the "definition of the word Icon" and a role model of strength and authenticity. In March 2018, Cher headlined the 40th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, with tickets selling out in three hours after she hinted at her involvement on Twitter.

2018-2022: ABBA-related projects and ventures in fashion

Cher returned to film after nearly a decade in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), a jukebox musical romantic comedy based on the songs of ABBA. The film serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the 2008 film Mamma Mia! and features Cher as Ruby Sheridan, the mother of Donna (Meryl Streep) and grandmother of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). Critics praised Cher's performance as a highlight of the movie, with New York magazine commenting, "Every single movie?no matter how flawless?would be infinitely better if it included Cher." For the film's soundtrack, she recorded two ABBA songs, "Fernando" and "Super Trouper". Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA stated, "She makes 'Fernando' her own. It's her song now."

While promoting Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Cher announced she was working on an album of ABBA covers. Released in September 2018, Dancing Queen debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, tying with 2013's Closer to the Truth as Cher's highest-charting solo album in the US. With first-week sales of 153,000 units, it achieved the year's biggest sales week for a pop album by a female artist and marked Cher's largest sales week since 1991. The album also topped Billboard's Top Album Sales chart. Dancing Queen received widespread critical acclaim; Rolling Stone commented that Cher makes the ABBA songs sound as if they were written for her, while Entertainment Weekly praised it as her "most significant release since 1998's Believe."

Cher embarked on the Here We Go Again Tour in 2018, which continued until 2020, when it was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The Cher Show, a biographical jukebox musical based on Cher's life and music, premiered in Chicago in June 2018. Featuring three actresses portraying Cher at different stages of her life, it ran on Broadway from December 2018 to August 2019. Subsequent productions toured the UK, Ireland and the US. On December 2, 2018, Cher received the Kennedy Center Honor in recognition of her "extraordinary contributions to culture", with tribute performances of her songs by Adam Lambert, Cyndi Lauper and Little Big Town. The following year, Cher launched Cher Eau de Couture, her second fragrance, which she described as a "genderless" follow-up to 1987's Uninhibited.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Cher focused on projects that could be completed from home. In May 2020, she released her first Spanish-language song, a cover of ABBA's "Chiquitita", with proceeds donated to UNICEF. Later that year, she joined the charity supergroup BBC Radio 2 Allstars for a cover of Oasis's "Stop Crying Your Heart Out". The recording, made in support of the Children in Need charity, became a UK top-ten single. Cher voiced a bobblehead version of herself in the animated film Bobbleheads: The Movie (2020). She was featured in The New York Times Magazine's annual "Best Actors" list for 2020, becoming the first actor included without appearing in a theatrical release that year; her performance in Moonstruck (1987) was praised as "radiant" and a source of comfort during quarantine.

In the early 2020s, Cher collaborated with major fashion brands. She starred in Dsquared2's Spring/Summer 2020 campaign, MAC Cosmetics' "Challenge Accepted" campaign in January 2022 and UGG's "Feel" campaign the same month. For Pride Month in June 2022, Cher partnered with Versace to launch the "Chersace" capsule collection, with proceeds benefiting the LGBTQIA+ charity Gender Spectrum. In September 2022, she walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week, closing Balmain's Spring/Summer 2023 show, and in November, she starred in the brand's "Balmain Blaze" campaign. That month, Cher began dating music executive Alexander Edwards, 40 years her junior. Their age gap sparked criticism online, which she addressed by tweeting, "Love doesn't know math."

2023-present: Christmas, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and memoirs

Cher's first holiday album, Christmas (2023), features duets with Stevie Wonder, Darlene Love, Michael Bublé, Tyga and Cyndi Lauper. Its lead single, "DJ Play a Christmas Song", topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales charts in December 2023, extending Cher's record as the only solo artist with Billboard number-one singles in seven consecutive decades (1960s-2020s).

In December 2023, Cher criticized the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for excluding her since becoming eligible in 1990, saying, "I wouldn't be in it now if they gave me a million dollars," and suggesting the institution "can just you-know-what themselves." Two months later, she received her first nomination and was inducted on October 19, 2024, becoming the first musician-actor to win an Academy Award for acting and join the Hall of Fame. Cher decided to accept the honor out of admiration for her fellow inductees. At the ceremony, she performed "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Believe", the latter as a duet with Dua Lipa.

In November 2024, Cher published Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the first of a two-part autobiography covering her childhood, early career and marriages to Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman. Written over seven years, it debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list, holding the position for three weeks. The second part is set for release in 2025. To celebrate 60 years in music, Cher released the greatest hits album Forever (2024), available as a 21-track standard edition and a 40-track digital edition, Forever Fan, featuring Sonny & Cher songs and lesser-known tracks curated by Cher. Rolling Stone noted the absence of "Half-Breed", her third Billboard Hot 100 number-one, linking it to a trend of artists reevaluating their catalogs in light of changing cultural sensitivities.

Artistry

Music and voice

Cher has explored diverse musical styles, including rock (folk, punk, arena and pop subgenres), soul, jazz, disco, new wave, power ballads, hip hop and electronic dance music, aiming to "remain relevant and do work that strikes a chord". Music historian Annie Zaleski wrote in Cher's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction essay that she sings "nearly every style of music" effortlessly. Cher's music often centers on heartbreak, independence and women's empowerment, making her a "brokenhearted symbol of a strong but decidedly single woman", according to Out magazine's Judy Wieder. Goldmine's Phill Marder credits Cher's musical success to her "nearly flawless" song selection, noting that while Sonny Bono contributed to early hits, most of her solo successes came from independent songwriters she chose. Her 2000 album Not Commercial, largely self-written, has a "1970s singer-songwriter feel" that highlights her storytelling skills, according to AllMusic's Jose F. Promis.

Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times writes, "There were a lot of great records by female singers in the early days of rock ... None, however, reflected the authority and command that we associate with rock 'n' roll today as much as [Cher's] key early hits". Some of Cher's early songs discuss subjects rarely addressed in American popular music such as divorce, prostitution, unplanned and underaged pregnancy, and racism. According to AllMusic's Joe Viglione, the 1972 single "The Way of Love" is "either about a woman expressing her love for another woman or a woman saying au revoir to a gay male she loved". Her ability to carry both male and female ranges allowed her to sing solo in androgynous and gender-neutral songs.

Cher's contralto voice has been widely praised for its distinctiveness. Ann Powers of The New York Times described it as "a quintessential rock voice: impure, quirky [and] a fine vehicle for projecting personality." Zaleski called her timbre "recognizable, dusky and sultry, like exquisite black velvet," with a wide range and "warbling" vibrato. AllMusic's Bruce Eder stated that her voice's "intensity and passion" are amplified by her acting skills, creating "an incredibly powerful experience for the listener." The Guardian's Laura Snapes called her voice "miraculous", capable of expressing "vulnerability, vengeance and pain" simultaneously. Zaleski added that her vocal delivery feels like "a direct line to her soul", while author Paul Simpson observed that "she spits out the words ... with such conviction you'd think she was delivering an eternal truth about the human condition".

Writing about Cher's musical output during the 1960s, Hilburn stated that "no one matched the pure, seductive wallop of Cher". By contrast, her vocal performances during the 1970s were described by Eder as "dramatic, highly intense ... [and] almost as much 'acted' as sung". First heard in the 1980 record Black Rose, Cher employed sharper, more aggressive vocals on her hard rock-oriented albums, establishing her sexually confident image. For the 1995 album It's a Man's World, she restrained her vocals, singing in higher registers and without vibrato.

Cher's 1998 song "Believe" was the first commercial recording to use Auto-Tune?an audio processor for correcting off-key vocals?as a stylistic effect, creating a robotic, futuristic sound. Cher, who proposed the effect, faced resistance from her label but insisted it remain, saying, "You can change [the song] over my dead body". Dubbed the "Cher effect", the technique was later described by Pitchfork's Simon Reynolds as having "revolutionized the sound of popular music" and as "the sound of the 21st century." Cher used Auto-Tune extensively on Living Proof (2001) and subsequent albums. In 2023, the Cher Fan Club's YouTube channel released a cover of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" using artificial intelligence (AI) to replicate Cher's voice. Calling it "shocking", Cher expressed concern: "I've spent my entire life trying to be myself and now ... they'll do my singing? ... it's out of control."

Films, videos and stage

Maclean's magazine's Barbara Wickens wrote, "Cher has emerged as probably the most fascinating movie star of her generation ... [because] she has managed to be at once boldly shocking and ultimately enigmatic." New York Post movie critic David Edelstein attributes Cher's "top-ranking star quality" to her ability of projecting "honesty, rawness and emotionality. She wears her vulnerability on her sleeve." Jeff Yarbrough of The Advocate wrote that Cher was "one of the first superstars to 'play gay' with compassion and without a hint of stereotyping", as she portrays a lesbian in the 1983 film Silkwood.

Author Yvonne Tasker notes that Cher's film roles often mirror her public image as a rebellious, sexually autonomous and self-made woman. In her films, she recurrently serves as a social intermediary to disenfranchised male characters. Film critic Kathleen Rowe wrote of Moonstruck that the depiction of Cher's character as "a 'woman on top' [is] enhanced by the unruly star persona Cher brings to the part'". For Moonstruck, Cher was ranked 1st on Billboard's list of "The 100 Best Acting Performances by Musicians in Movies" and her performance was described as "the standard by which you mentally check all others". Moonstruck was acknowledged by the American Film Institute as the eighth best romantic comedy film of all time.

Cher's public image is also reflected in her music videos and live performances, where she explores themes of self-construction, perfection and female sexuality, according to Tasker. In her 1992 Cher... at the Mirage concert video, she stood apart from contemporaries by featuring a male dancer impersonating her instead of female backup dancers mirroring her movements. Author Diane Negra described this as Cher embracing her identity as a "fictionalized production", offering audiences a "pleasurable plurality." Inspired by Cher's Farewell Tour, singer Pink began studying aerial silks, which became central to her performances. James Sullivan of the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted Cher's impact on the era of stadium-sized shows, stating, "She's comfortable enough to see such imitation as flattery, not theft."

Cher was ranked 17th on VH1's list of the "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era". The 1980 video for "Hell on Wheels" involves cinematic techniques and was one of the first music videos ever. Deemed "controversial" for her performance on the battleship USS Missouri, straddling a cannon, and wearing a leather thong that revealed her tattooed buttocks, the 1989 music video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" was the first ever to be banned by MTV.

Public image

Fashion icon status

Time magazine's Cady Lang described Cher as a "cultural phenomenon [who] has forever changed t