Cher

This article is about the entertainer. For other uses, see Cher (disambiguation).

Cher
Cher at the London premiere of Burlesque in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Cherilyn Sarkisian
Also known as	Bonnie Jo Mason, Cher Bono, Cherilyn La Piere, Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere, Cheryl Sarkisian, Cleo
Born	(1946-05-20) May 20, 1946 El Centro, California, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, rock, folk, disco, dance
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, model, record producer, film producer, film director, fashion designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1963–present
Labels	Warner Bros., WEA, Geffen, Columbia, Casablanca, MCA, Kapp, Atco, Imperial
Website	www.cher.com Cher's signature

Template:Infobox comedian awards Cher (/ˈʃɛər/; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress, television personality, director, record producer and entrepreneur. Well known for having worked extensively across media, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her work in film, music and television. She is the only person in history to receive all of these awards. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop for being an influential figure in popular culture, she is also known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, her distinctive contralto, the considerable eclecticism of her work and her imagery which have been known to induce controversy.

Cher first caught the eye and ear of the public in 1965 as one-half of the pop rock duo Sonny & Cher, which have popularized a peculiar smooth sound that competed successfully with the predominant British Invasion and Motown Sound of the era. After a period in which the duo became obsolete thanks to the rise of the drug culture, she re-emerged in the 1970s as a television personality with her shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and Cher. With the latter, she became a fashion trendsetter with her daring Bob Mackie-designed outfits, and was noted as being the first woman to expose her navel on television. At the same time, she established herself as a solo artist with chart-topping hits such as "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady". After the duo separated in 1975, she had successful delves into disco music before becoming a top-earning live act in Las Vegas.

In the early 1980s, Cher made a critically-acclaimed appearance on Broadway and starred in the film Silkwood, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983. In the following years, she established herself as one of the most acclaimed film actresses of the decade, starring in a string of hit films that includes Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and Moonstruck, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, she made a musical comeback by releasing a series of multi-platinum rock albums and hit singles such as "I Found Someone", "If I Could Turn Back Time", and "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)". After facing professional struggles by appearing in a series of cosmetic infomercials in the mid-1990s, she returned to popularity by making her directing debut in the film If These Walls Could Talk (1996) and releasing the biggest-selling single of her career, "Believe", which was also the best-selling single of 1998 and 1999. Cher ended her three-year-long Living Proof: The Farewell Tour in 2005 as the most successful tour by a female artist at that time. In 2008, she signed a US $60 million per-year deal with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to perform a series of shows titled Cher at the Colosseum, which ended in February 2011.

Biographer Mark Bego says of her impact: "No one in the history of show business has had a career of the magnitude and scope of Cher's". Called "an authentic feminist hero" by Ms. magazine and the "Queen of the Comeback" by The New York Times, she has been praised by critics for first bringing the sense of reinvention and self-actualization into entertainment industry. She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and is recognized as one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She is the only artist to have notched a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.

Early life

Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. Her father, John Sarkisian, was an Armenian American truck driver and drug addict with a gambling habit, and her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch), was an aspiring actress and model with Irish, English, German and Cherokee descent. Her parents had a stormy relationship, eventually divorcing in Reno, when Cher was ten months old. Holt and John married and divorced two more times. The third of Holt's eight marriages was to actor John Southall, the father of Cher's half-sister, actress Georganne LaPiere. Although their marriage ended when Cher was nine years old, she considers Southall her real father and remembers him as a "good-natured man who turned belligerent when he drank too much". As Holt married and divorced, the family moved from place to place (including New York, Texas and California) and often had little money. At one point, Holt had to put Cher in an orphanage. Although they met every day, Holt and Cher found the experience traumatic.

Cher's family noticed her creativity when she produced the musical Oklahoma! for her teacher and her class. According to biographer Connie Berman, "Cher got a group of girls together and directed and created the dance routines. Since she couldn't get the boys to take part, Cher acted the men's roles and sang their songs. Even at that age, she had an unusually low voice." Despite the difficult times and the instability of her mother's marriages, Cher wanted to be famous since childhood, but felt that she was "unattractive" and "not very talented". She later commented in an interview, "I couldn't think of anything that I could do ... I didn't think I'd be a singer or dancer. I just thought, well, I'll be famous. That was my goal."

Cher in high school years

In 1961, Holt married bank manager Gilbert LaPiere, who adopted both Cher and her half-sister and enrolled them in a private school, Montclair Prep, in the prosperous community of Encino, Los Angeles. Like Cher's stepfather, the fathers of Montclair Prep students were financially successful. Such "posh" surroundings presented a challenge for Cher, as Berman wrote she "stood out from the others in both her striking appearance and outgoing personality." A former classmate recalled, "I'll never forget seeing Cher for the first time. She was so special ... She was like a movie star, right then and there ... She said she was going to be a movie star and we knew she would." Despite not being a top student, Cher was considered intelligent and creative. She usually got good grades and did well in French and English. Later, as an adult, she would discover that she had suffered from a learning disability called dyslexia. She also achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior: she would entertain other students during lunch hour performing songs and shock a few when she'd wear a midriff-baring top, being the first young woman in her crowd to do so. She recalled later, "I was never really in school. I was always thinking about when I was grown up and famous." In those years, Cher had a brief relationship with actor Warren Beatty.

Career and public life

1960s: Rise and fall

Cher with Sonny Bono in 1966

At the age of 16, Cher dropped out of school, left her mother's house, and moved into Los Angeles with a friend, where she took acting classes and had jobs to support herself. She danced in small clubs along Hollywood's Sunset Strip, introducing herself to performers, managers, and agents. According to biographer Connie Berman, "The teen did not hesitate to approach anyone she thought could help her get a break, make a new contact, or get an audition." Cher met Sonny Bono, 11 years her senior, in November 1962 when he was working for "Wall of Sound" record producer Phil Spector. Shortly after, Cher's friend moved out of their apartment, and Cher accepted Sonny's offer to move in with him as his housekeeper. They became close friends, eventual lovers, and were unofficially married in October 1964. Sonny brought Cher to Spector, who used her as a backup singer on many of his classic recordings, including The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and The Ronettes' "Be My Baby", and produced her first single, the unsuccessful "Ringo, I Love You", issued under the name Bonnie Jo Mason. Later in 1964, Cher emerged with Sonny as a duo, initially called Caesar & Cleo, and cut the singles "The Letter", "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Love Is Strange", with little attention.

By the end of 1964, Cher (then known as Cherilyn) was signed to Liberty Records' Imperial imprint, and Sonny came along as producer. Her second solo single, "Dream Baby", managed to get airplay in Los Angeles, becoming a local hit. Suspecting she was onto something, Cher released in 1965 her debut solo album, All I Really Want to Do, which was later described by Tim Sendra of Allmusic as "one of the stronger folk-pop records of the era". The album reached the Billboard 200 top 20 and was on the albums charts for six months. The album's cover of the Bob Dylan song "All I Really Want to Do" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, Sonny & Cher, as they were now known, signed to Reprise Records and released their first single, "Baby Don't Go". The song became a major local hit in Los Angeles (later peaking at number eight on the Hot 100), after which the duo moved from Reprise to the Atco label, a division of Atlantic Records. Their first album, Look at Us (1965), spent five weeks at number two on the Billboard 200 and yielded the single "I Got You Babe", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became "one of the biggest-selling and most beloved pop/rock hits of the mid-'60s". Several more mid-level hits followed, notably "Just You", "But You're Mine", "What Now My Love" and "Little Man", before "The Beat Goes On" returned the duo to the U.S. top ten. Sonny & Cher charted 11 Billboard top 40 hits between 1965 and 1972, including six top-ten hits, and sold 80 million records worldwide. At one point, they had five songs in the top 20, a feat equaled only by Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

Cher on the set of the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1967)

The duo became a phenomenon that resembled Beatlemania, traveling and performing around the world and, with their "warm harmony" and "smooth sound", competing successfully with the British Invasion of The Beatles and the Motown Sound of The Supremes. 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. By the time Sonny and Cher got back to America ... they had to disembark from the plane onto the tarmac or be ripped to shreds by scrap-seeking fans." Following an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in the fall of 1965 in which Sullivan had infamously mispronounced her name "Chur" during their introduction, the singer began spelling her name with an acute accent mark: Chér—a typographical feature she maintained through 1974. The couple soon appeared on other hit television shows of the era including American Bandstand, Hollywood Palace, Beat Club, Hullabaloo and Shindig!. Cher disguised her stage fright and nervousness with quick-witted barbs directed at her partner, and soon rose to prominence as the more outspoken and daring half of the team. With her exotic looks, she became a fashion trendsetter, helping to popularize fashions such as bellbottoms and "hippie" attire when she began wearing them in her shows. She also expanded her range by designing a line of marketed wardrobe. Between 1966 and 1967, Cher released the solo albums The Sonny Side of Chér, Chér and With Love, Chér. They produced a series of hits, most notably "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", which reached number two on the Hot 100 and became her first solo million-seller; "Alfie", which received an nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song as the Lewis Gilbert film's theme; and the U.S. top-ten hit "You Better Sit Down Kids".

Cher in Good Times (1967)

As the 1960s came to a close, Sonny and Cher's openly monogamous, drug-free lifestyle had become obsolete, thanks to the rise of hard rock, psychedelia, and the drug culture. Furthermore, according to Berman, "The heavy, loud sound of groups like Jefferson Airplane and Cream made the folk-rock music of Sonny and Cher seem too bland." In an attempt to recapture their young audience, the duo produced and starred in the film Good Times, in which they were featured in various "silly" skits. The movie was a flop. Cher continued her solo career by recording the unsuccessful albums Backstage (1968) and 3614 Jackson Highway (1969), the latter for Atco Records. Her relationship with Sonny also began to unravel, as he cheated on her repeatedly. According to People magazine, "Bono tried desperately to win her back, telling her he wanted to marry and start a family." They were married after she gave birth to Chaz Bono, who was born Chastity Bono on March 4, 1969. The duo made another foray into film later in 1969, with Sonny producing Chastity, intended to launch Cher as a major movie star. The film stiffed, costing the duo a good portion of their savings. However, some critics noted that Cher demonstrated traces of good instinctive acting. At a low professional ebb, the duo put together a nightclub routine in Las Vegas. According to 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 turned it into a success, which led the couple to do guest appearances on prime-time shows.

1970s: Ressurgence in television, solo career

Cher with Don Knotts at The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour

In 1970, Cher co-starred with Sonny in her first television special, The Sonny & Cher Nitty Gritty Hour. A mixture of slapstick comedy, skits and live music, the appearance was a critical success. They caught the eye of CBS head of programming Fred Silverman while guest-hosting The Merv Griffin Show, and Silverman offered the duo their own variety show. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour debuted in 1971 as a summer replacement series and was an immediate hit, returning to prime time later that year and ranking near the top of the ratings. Silverman called the couple's success "an explosion. You could count on one hand the number of times this has happened in the history of television." The show received 12 Emmy Award nominations during its run, winning one for direction. The duo revived its recording career by releasing four albums for Kapp Records and MCA Records that included two top-ten hits: "All I Ever Need Is You" in 1971, and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" in 1972.

Cher performing live in 1971

Cher performing at The Entertainer of the Year Awards in 1973

Now 25, Cher continued to establish herself as a solo recording artist, enlisting the help of record producer Snuff Garrett. Cher's first solo number-one hit was "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", which became the biggest selling single in the history of MCA Records at the time and earned her a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1972 Grammy Awards. Released in September 1971, the RIAA-certified platinum album of the same name was recognized by critics for marking Cher's maturation as an artist with "highly intense performances" such as the U.S. top-ten hit "The Way of Love". The album peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 45 weeks. In 1972, she released the commercially less successful album Foxy Lady, an all-ballad set in which the evolution of her vocal performance was noted by critics. The next year, she released Bittersweet White Light, an all-standard album produced at Sonny's insistence, which was a major bomb. Cher scored her second number-one hit with "Half-Breed" in 1973, from the RIAA-certified gold album of the same name. In 1974, she had her third number-one hit with "Dark Lady", also from the album of the same name.

By late 1972, Cher's marriage with Sonny was over, 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." The end of their marriage became public by the third season of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. The show imploded, while still in the top ten of the ratings. What followed was a troubled, very public divorce, finalized on June 27, 1975. During the divorce proceedings, Cher lived a two-year relationship with record executive David Geffen, who freed the singer from her business arrangement with Sonny Bono, under which she was required to work exclusively for Cher Enterprises, the company he controlled. Around this time, she also had well-known flirts with actor Marlon Brando and singer Elvis Presley. Of Brando, she said, "I regret not meeting him more ... It was great, we had the best time, but I was trying to make my marriage [with Sonny] work." Of Elvis, she said, "He called me and wanted me to come up for the weekend, but I was just too nervous ... I was about to do it, but thought 'No, I don't want to' and then I regretted it." In 1974, Cher won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. The same year, Bono launched his own show, The Sonny Comedy Revue, which was canceled after six weeks.

Her solo feature, entitled simply Cher, debuted as an all-star highly-rated television special on February 16, 1975, featuring guests Flip Wilson, Bette Midler and Elton John. Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson both won Emmy Awards for their appearances as guest stars a few weeks later, and the series received nine additional Emmy nominations that year. The press on the first episodes were favorable, with Los Angeles Times exclaiming that "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." A good deal of press was generated throughout 1975 regarding Cher's exposed navel and the daring ensembles created by famed designer Bob Mackie. According to Mackie at the time, her wardrobe was the "biggest ever for a weekly TV show." The Cher show ran for two seasons, before a pregnant Cher pulled the plug herself, deciding instead to reunite with her ex-husband for a revamped version of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Three days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny, Cher married rock musician Gregg Allman, co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band, on June 30, 1975. She filled for divorce nine days after their wedding citing his heroin and liquor problems, but the pair later reconciled and remained married until 1979. They had one son, Elijah Blue, in July 10, 1976. Under the rubric "Allman and Woman", they released in 1977 a duet album called Two the Hard Way, which was later regarded as "the worst of either artist's respective career".

In the mid-1970s, Cher signed a US $2.5 million deal with Warner Bros. and released a series of unsuccessful albums that went on to become cult classics: Stars (1975), I'd Rather Believe in You (1976) and Cherished (1977). On February 2, 1976, The Sonny and Cher Show debuted with a top-ten rating and high expectations. Coinciding with the show's initial popularity, Mego Toys released in 1976 a line of toys and dolls in the likeness of Cher and Sonny. However, the adverse publicity of Cher's troubled relationship with Gregg Allman and her much-reported high lifestyle caused the ratings to fall and the show to be cancelled after its second season. She made a brief return to prime time starring in the television specials Cher... Special (1978), which received three Emmy nominations, and Cher and Other Fantasies (1979). In 1978, she legally changed her name from Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere Bono Allman to just Cher, with no surname or middle name, in order to avoid "being saddled with surnames of her father, stepfather and ex-husbands".

Later in 1979, Cher would capitalize on the disco craze, signing with Casablanca Records, and racking up another major hit single with "Take Me Home". The single and the album Take Me Home became instant hits, remained bestsellers for more than half of 1979 and were both certified gold by RIAA. Sales of the album may have been boosted by the image of a scantily-clad Cher in a Viking outfit on its cover. Cher appeared on the "memorable" cover of her next album, Prisoner (1979), draped in chains as a "'prisoner' of the press", spurring controversy among feminist groups for her perceived "naked sex slave" image. Prisoner produced the minor hit single "Hell on Wheels", which was featured on the Roller Boogie film's soundtrack. "Take Me Home" and "Hell on Wheels" were later described as "timeless dance anthems", with the latter capturing the "late 70s roller-skating craze, which Cher herself had a hand in popularizing." During this time, Cher dated Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS.

1980s: Downturn, film stardom and musical comeback

Cher performing during Take Me Home Tour

In 1980, Cher formed the rock band Black Rose with her then-partner, guitarist Les Dudek. The group was promoted without trading on Cher's celebrity (her name never appeared on their self-titled album cover and her face was only seen in a band shot on the back cover). The album Black Rose failed to sell and the band broke up the following year. Cher told the press in 1980, "We were the forerunners of a certain kind of music that's happening today and a certain kind of attitude and dress and shit like that ... But the image of me in beaded gowns on the cover of the National Enquirer was very heavy to fight." By the time of the band's break up, Cher began a successful nightclub act in Las Vegas for which she earned US $300,000 a week. In 1981, Cher released the UK top-five hit "Dead Ringer for Love", a duet with musician Meat Loaf which was later described as "one of the more inspired rock duets of the 1980's". The following year, Cher released for Columbia Records the album I Paralyze (1982), which was deemed as her "strongest and most consistent solo album in years" but faced low sales.

With album sales and hit singles again at a standstill, Cher decided to expand her career into serious film acting. Her earliest entertainment ambitions had always lain in film, as opposed to music; however, she had no films to her credit except the poorly received Good Times and Chastity, and producers and directors in Hollywood did not take her seriously as an actor. In fact, by this time of her career, she was considered "a bit of a joke" and a "has-been". In 1982, Cher moved to New York to take acting lessons with Lee Strasberg, founder of the Actors Studio, but she never got to do it. She auditioned for and was signed by director Robert Altman (whose wife was a friend of Cher's mother) for the Broadway stage production Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. That same year, she was cast by Altman in the film version, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She was next cast alongside Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell in the Mike Nichols' drama Silkwood, in which she played Streep's lesbian girlfriend and plant coworker. When the film opened in 1983, audiences were skeptical about Cher's ability as an actress. According to biographer Connie Berman, "She has often repeated the story about the audience's reception at a preview that Cher attended. At the beginning of the film, when her name flashed across the screen in the credits, the audience laughed. Cher was devastated. Her sister, who was with her, began to cry. Cher didn't cry, but she was deeply hurt. The preview audience changed its attitude by the end of the film. Hollywood also took notice at last, and so did the critics." For her "intense, unvarnished performance", Cher received her first Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress, and won a Golden Globe Award.

Cher at the White House with former first lady Nancy Reagan in October 1985

Cher "soared to new emotional heights" in her next film, Mask (1985), which co-starred Eric Stoltz and Sam Elliott. The film reached number two at the box office and was her first critical and commercial success as a leading actress. For her role as a mother of a severely disfigured boy, she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. According to the book Hollywood Songsters: Allyson to Funicello, "There were ... many conflicts between between Cher and director Peter Bogdanovich ... Many felt (including Cher) that because she was so anti-Establishment, the industry bypassed her in the Oscars nominations. To show her scorn for the 'system' she showed up at the Academy Awards that year [1986] in one of her most outlandish (tarantulalike) costumes." Also in 1985, Cher was honored with Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award and formed film production company Isis.

In May 1986, Cher made her first appearance as a guest on the Late Night with David Letterman. When asked by Letterman why she had been so reluctant to be a guest on his program, Cher replied that she thought he was an "asshole". The audience "roared", and he later told People magazine, "It did hurt my feelings ... Cher was one of the few people I've really wanted to have on the show, and then she calls me an asshole. I felt like a total fool, especially since I say all kinds of things to people. I was sitting there thinking, 'Okay, Mr. Big Shot, can you take it as well as you can dish it out?'" In 1987, Cher returned to the show in an appearance with ex-husband Sonny Bono, reuniting to sing "I Got You Babe" for what would be the last time.

Wax figure of Cher wearing an outfit similar to the one she wore at the 60th Academy Awards in 1988

Cher returned to the screen three times in 1987. She played a public defender in the film Suspect, opposite Dennis Quaid; was one of the three female protagonists in the comedy horror The Witches of Eastwick, with Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson, which grossed US $31.8 million in domestic film rentals; and starred in the Norman Jewison's romantic comedy Moonstruck, which co-starred Nicolas Cage and grossed US $34,393 million in domestic film rentals. For her "captivating" performance as an Italian "lonely widow who founds love" in Moonstruck, she won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Actress. Cher said during her Oscar acceptance speech (notably, the audience rose to their feet when her name was announced), "I don't think that this award means that I'm somebody, but maybe I'm on my way." Now one of the most acclaimed film actresses of the decade, she also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and the People's Choice Award for "Favorite All Around Female Star". That same year, Cher revived her recording career after a five-year hiatus, signing with Geffen Records and releasing the first of three rock albums that presented contributions from names such as Michael Bolton, Mark Mangold, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child and Diane Warren. Cher featured the comeback single "I Found Someone", her first Hot 100 top-ten hit in over eight years, and sold seven million copies worldwide. It was certified platinum by RIAA. In 1988, Cher released her own fragrance, Uninhibited, which earned about US $15 million in its first year sales. She also released an exercise book called Forever Fit, which sold about 100,000 copies in 1988.

Cher performing on the Heart of Stone Tour

Cher's twentieth studio album Heart of Stone (1989) sold 11 million copies worldwide and was certified triple platinum by RIAA. The music video for the album's first single, "If I Could Turn Back Time", stirred up controversy due to a scantily clad Cher performing on a Navy warship, wearing a "shocking" see-through bodystocking which revealed the singer's tattoed rear end, and straddling a canon. Many networks on television, including MTV, initially refused to air the video because of its "partial nudity". Responding to pressure from older viewers, MTV agreed to show the video from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The corresponding song topped the charts in Australia for seven non-consecutive weeks and was a top-ten hit worldwide. Further hits from Heart of Stone were "Just Like Jesse James", "Heart of Stone", and a duet with Peter Cetera, "After All", which was used as the love theme from the movie Chances Are and received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 62nd Academy Awards. In 1989, Cher launched the Heart of Stone Tour (also known as The Cher Extravaganza) which continued until 1990. The tour originated the well-received television special Cher at the Mirage, which was filmed during a concert in Las Vegas.

During the 1980s, Cher was involved in successive, well-publicized relationships with younger men, including 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 18 years younger bagel baker whom she met in 1986 and lived with for three years. Dubbed "Bagel Boy" by the press, Camilletti made headlines after destroying the cameras of some paparazzi who were stalking Cher's home in 1989. The couple broke up a short time later.

1990s: Ups and downs, return to popularity

Cher's first film in three years, Mermaids (1990), co-starring Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci, was not considered a huge mainstream success, but was critically well received. She reportedly fought with its first two directors, Lasse Hallstrom and Frank Oz, until they were replaced by Richard Benjamin. As the producers believed that Cher would be the "star attraction" for the film, they let her have control behind the scenes. Cher contributed two songs to the Mermaids' soundtrack: "Baby I'm Yours" and the international hit "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", which topped the UK charts for five weeks and reached top five worldwide. In 1991, Cher released her final studio album for Geffen Records: Love Hurts, which debuted at number one in UK and stayed there for six consecutive weeks. The album sold 10 million copies worldwide and spawned four hit-singles, most notably "Love and Understanding", a top-ten hit in UK as well as the album's only major hit in her native U.S., entering the top 20. In Germany, Cher received the Echo Award for international female artist of the year. In 1992, Cher embarked on the Love Hurts Tour and released two fitness videos, CherFitness: A New Attitude and CherFitness: Body Confidence, which became big sellers in the genre. In november of the same year, the European compilation album Cher's Greatest Hits: 1965-1992, which contained three new songs ("Oh No Not My Baby", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Whenever You're Near"), peaked at number one in the UK for seven weeks, and charted in the top ten in several other countries.

Cher performing in New York (1996)

Because of her bad experience on Mermaids, Cher turned down two leading roles in the films The War of the Roses and Thelma & Louise. According to biographer Connie Berman, "After the success of Moonstruck, she was so worried about her next career move that she was overly cautious." In the early 1990s, she fell victim of Epstein-Barr virus and developed chronic fatigue syndrome, leaving her too exhausted to sustain her music and film careers. However, she starred in a series of infomercials launching health, beauty, and diet products (which earned her US $10 million in fees), since she "needed the money" and was "still too sick to work on other projects". The skits were spoofed on David Letterman's show and Saturday Night Live and attacked as a sellout by critics, with many of them questioning her movie career as dead. She told Ladies Home Journal later, "Suddenly I became the Infomercial Queen and it didn't occur to me that people would focus on that and strip 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 collaborated with MTV's animated series Beavis and Butt-head for a rock version of "I Got You Babe". In 1995, she went to number one on the UK Singles Chart with the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge", which also featured Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton. That same year, Cher signed with Warner Music UK's label WEA Records and recorded an album titled It's a Man's World, which came out of her conceit of covering men's songs from a woman's point of view. The album received generally positive reviews, with some critics commenting that Cher's voice sounded better than ever. It's a Man's World was released in Europe at the end of 1995 and in North America, under Reprise Records, in the summer of 1996, and sparked the UK top-ten singles "Walking in Memphis" and "One by One". In 1996, Cher starred in the Chazz Palminteri-scripted dark comedy Faithful, which was poorly received by critics. Despite being praised for her "appeal" in the film, she refused to promote it, claiming it was "horrible". Cher scored a comeback when she starred in and made her directing debut with a segment of the HBO abortion-themed anthology If These Walls Could Talk, with Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek and Anne Heche, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. The film drew the highest ratings ever for an original TV movie on HBO.

Sonny & Cher's star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Cher's next film was Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini (1998), with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Lily Tomlin. Although the film received mixed reviews, Cher's performance was well received by critics, with one reviewer from Film Comment commenting "It is only after she appears that you realize how sorely she's been missed from movie screens! For Cher is a star. That is, 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." Following the death of now Republican Representative and former husband Sonny Bono in a skiing accident in 1998, Cher delivered a "genuine and moving" eulogy at his funeral. She tearfully praised Bono, calling him "the most unforgettable character" she ever met. Cher paid tribute to Bono in the CBS special Sonny and Me: Cher Remembers (1998), in which she remarked that her grief was "something she planned to never get over." Despite two decades of acrimony between the couple, it was, according to one biographer, "only in losing the one man who had shaped her life more than any other, that Cher realized how much love had remained for her ex-husband." In 1998, Sonny & Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television. That same year, Cher published the book The First Time, a collection of autobiographical essays of "first-time" events in her life, which received praise by critics for revealing the singer to be "down to earth" and "genuine". Although she had almost finished the manuscript when Sonny died, she was undecided about whether to include his death in the book; she feared being criticized for capitalizing on the event. Cher told Rolling Stone later, "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 ... I don't have to explain myself. I'd like for people to understand, but if they don't, well, that's the way things go."

Cher performing in New York (1998)

Cher's twenty-third studio album Believe (1998), a collection of dance-pop confections, was certified quadruple platinum by RIAA and went on to be certified gold or platinum in 39 countries, with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide. Believe's first single and title track reached number one in more than 25 countries and sold over 11 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling recording of 1998 (beating out Titanic's theme song "My Heart Will Go On") and 1999, as well as Cher's biggest hit to date. In the British charts, "Believe" claimed the number one slot for seven weeks and became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK. The song was also awarded a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. With "Believe", Cher became the oldest female artist (at the age of 52) to top the Billboard Hot 100. It also gave her the distinction of having the longest span of number-one hits (33 years) and the longest gap between number-one hits (ten days short of 25 years) in the rock era of the Hot 100. Cher is also the only woman in history to have a U.S. top-ten single in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The album Believe also produced a global follow-up hit, "Strong Enough", which reached top ten worldwide. In January 1999, Cher performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl XXXIII. In march, she performed on the television special VH1 Divas Live 2, alongside Tina Turner and Elton John. According to VH1, it was the most popular, and most watched, program in the television networks history, with Cher's presence being "a huge part of making it exactly that." Her Do You Believe? Tour (1999–2000) was sold-out in every American city it was booked in and had a global audience of over 1.5 million. Its television special, Cher: Live at the MGM Grand In Las Vegas, received seven Emmy nominations. Also in 1999, Cher released in Europe the compilation album The Greatest Hits which reached number one in German and Australian charts. That same year, Geffen Records in America compiled its own If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits, which was certified gold by RIAA. In Germany, Cher again became the most successful international female artist of the year and received her second Echo Award.

2000s: Legacy of achievement, touring success

In 2000, Cher released an independent album titled Not.com.mercial, which was written mostly by her after attending a songwriters' conference in 1994. Because the album was quickly rejected by her record label for being "not commercial", she chose instead to sell it only on her website. Full of personal revelations, "blunt" language and "bleak" content, Not.com.mercial marked the first time that Cher had written a majority of the material for one of her albums. One song from the album, "Sisters of Mercy", in which she called the Catholic nuns who cared for her when she was a child "cruel, heartless and wicked" for keeping her in their orphanage long after her mother attempted to retrieve her, caused controversy among church leaders, who quickly issued denouncements. That same year, Cher recorded a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti called "Più che puoi". In November 2000, Cher made a cameo appearance on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace in the episode "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed". Cher's guest spot gave the show its second-highest rating ever. Also in 2000, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award, along with the rest of the creators and cast of If These Walls Could Talk, for her work as a director and actor on the film. The Lucy Award is given to "talented individuals who exemplify the extraordinary accomplishments embodied in the life and work of Lucille Ball."

"We just chose songs that felt right on an individual basis. It wasn't until we started to assess the entire album and play with sequencing that we realized that this had subconsciously become an album filled with love and warmth. It was a pleasant surprise, and it's certainly an appropriate time to put some positive energy out into the world."

—Cher talking about the making of the album Living Proof

In 2001, still in a dance mode, Cher released the highly anticipated follow-up to Believe: Living Proof, which entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, making it her highest-charting album debut to date and extending her album chart span to 36 years and seven months. Slant Magazine proclaimed the album "the most life-affirming piece of pop art to emerge since 9/11". Living Proof's worldwide lead single, "The Music's No Good Without You", reached number eight in the UK and the top ten in a few countries. The album's first American single, "Song for the Lonely", was dedicated to "the corageous people of New York" following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Several songs from the album, including their remixed versions, established presence on the American club scene. Living Proof was certified gold by RIAA for sales exceeding 500,000 copies in the U.S. In 2002, Cher won the Dance/Club Play Artist of the Year Award at the Billboard Music Awards. In May that same year, she performed on the VH1 benefit concert VH1 Divas Las Vegas. Also in 2002, her personal wealth was estimated at US $600 million (£315 million).

Cher performing during the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, one of the highest-grossing tours of all time

In June 2002, Cher embarked on the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, which was announced as the final live concert tour of her career, though she vowed to continue making more records and movies. The show itself was a tribute to her 40 years in show business. It featured vintage performance and video clips from the 1960s onwards, highlighting her successes in music, television, and film, all set amongst an elaborate backdrop and stage set-up, complete with dancers, acrobats and backup singers. Yahoo! Movies called the show "a multi-media extravaganza covering the incomparable entertainer's career in show business". Initially scheduled for 49 shows, the tour was extended several times, covering virtually all of the U.S., as well as cities in Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was eventually redubbed the "Never Can Say Goodbye Tour". Cher found success on television once again with Cher: The Farewell Tour, an NBC special taped in Miami on November 2002 during the tour and aired in April 2003, which attracted 17 million viewers. It was the highest-rated network-TV concert special of 2003, and earned Cher an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. Later in 2003, she released the album Live: The Farewell Tour, a collection of live tracks taken from the tour.

The Very Best of Cher, a greatest-hits collection that surveys Cher's entire career, was released in April 2003. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by RIAA. In September 2003, Cher signed a worldwide deal with the U.S. division of Warner Bros. Records after she split with Warner UK last year. That same year, Cher recorded a duet of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" for Rod Stewart's As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Volume II album. She was also seen, as herself, in the Farrelly Brothers' comedy Stuck on You (2003) with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. In the film, she spoofed her own image, appearing in bed with a "way younger" boyfriend (Frankie Muniz). She also contributed the song "Human" for the film's soundtrack. In 2004, Cher received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording for her song "Love One Another". Her three-year, 325-date Farewell Tour ended in April 2005 as the highest grossing music tour by a female artist at the time, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The tour earned upwards of US $192 million in the U.S. alone and over US $250 million worldwide, with a global audience of over 3 million.

Cher performing at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace (2009)

In 2008, Cher began a 200-performance, three-year residency at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, for which she earned a reported US $60 million per year. The show ran until February 2011. It featured 16 dancers and aerialists, "state-of-the-art" video and special effects, and "ambitious" set designs. In an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in November 2008, Cher talked about an as-yet incomplete film project called The Drop-Out.

2010s: New projects

Cher returned to film in the November 2010 musical Burlesque, which grossed over US $89 million worldwide. She contributed two songs for the film's soundtrack: "Welcome to Burlesque" and the Diane Warren-penned power ballad "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me". The latter won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, received a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media and became a number-one hit on the American dance charts. This made her the only act to have notched a number-one single on a Billboard chart in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. That same year, Cher placed her handprints and footprints in cement in the courtyard in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. In an interview with Architectural Digest, she also revealed she became involved in Buddhism: "As corny as it sounds, the soul of the universe, everything that I need, I can find in its practice." In 2011, she lent her voice to the comedy Zookeeper.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, Cher has been working on her first studio album since 2001's Living Proof. A snippet of the album's lead single, "Woman's World", leaked in October 2012. Other confirmed titles include "The Greatest Thing", a duet with Lady Gaga written by her and producer RedOne; "I Walk Alone" written by Pink; and her 2010 dance hit "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me". Pink has also contributed a second song; she said, "It's such an honour, I finally feel like a songwriter. And I'm such a fan." Jason Derülo has written a "mid tempo club tune" for the album; Diane Warren have indicated that she have contributed new material; while Cher has hinted that she's working with Timbaland and that a duet with Burlesque co-star Christina Aguilera may appear on the record. Cher also announced plans to embark on a concert tour, which she has dubbed the Never Can Say Goodbye Tour. In June 2012, Cher revealed via Twitter that a Broadway musical based on her life and music was currently in development. She also said that she could play herself in the show.

Musical style

Bob Dylan (image) was one of the writers who prevailed in Cher's early career repertoire

Continuously adapting to the trends of each era, Cher's musical style has been the subject of controversy by critics. She is, by record producer Snuff Garrett's analysis, "more of a stylist than a singer"; however, to former senior VP of artist development at Warner Bros. Craig Kostich, "She is a one-of-a-kind artist that continually pushes the boundaries of her talent." Cher has worked in numerous music genres, such as folk, disco, rock, R&B, and dance, in order to "remain relevant and do work that strikes a chord." Peter Fawthrop of Allmusic stated that, despite its frequent changes, Cher's musical style always seems "just as sincere and just as much Cher as the previous change" and that "Her personality is set in stone and shines through." He added that Cher sounds as recognizable on the "synthetically vocalized" song "Believe" (1999) as on her "grimly comedic folk" song "Dark Lady" (1974), and concluded that "Those who like Cher's '90s material will probably like Cher back then, even though the music is completely different."

In the 1960s and 1970s, Cher worked in music genres ranging from girl group ballads to Jackie Deshannon folk-influenced pop, to adult contemporary pop. Her first album, All I Really Want to Do (1965), was, like most of her solo work in the 1960s, predominantly folk-rock and based in the songbooks of writers like Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, DeShannon, and her musical partner Sonny Bono, who produced a large part of her 1960s material. Joe Viglione of Allmusic wrote that her 1967 album With Love, Chér "shows why the singer endeared herself to listeners and got to play in the same ballpark as Dusty [Springfield] and Petula [Clark]". A song from this album, "You Better Sit Down Kids", dealt with divorce, an unusual subject for a 1960s pop record, and was one of a series of releases on which Cher's music broached difficult areas such as unwanted pregnancy. While Cher's first albums were "expressive and radiant", her early-1970s material presented a more adult point of view and personality, as "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves". For Bruce Eder of Allmusic, "the song's subject matter, unusual tempo changes, and an incredibly memorable chorus-book became a vehicle for a transcendent performance by the singer, marking Cher's maturation as an artist". He also commented that her early-1970s hits were "dramatic, highly intense performances, almost as much 'acted' as sung". He concluded that, despite having "a relatively narrow singing range" at the time, Cher had brought virtues to her music ("tremendous intensity and passion" and "an ability to meld that projection with her acting skills") that resulted into "an incredibly powerful experience for the listener." Another song from this period, "The Way of Love", is either about a woman expressing her love for another woman, or a woman breaking up with a gay male she loved ("What will you do/When he sets you free/Just the way that you/Said good-bye to me"). Viglione wrote that she "never minded androgynous or neutral gender identity in her songs" and that "her solo material could soar to heights not possible in a partnership" because of her ability to carry both male and female ranges.

Cher, seen here on the Heart of Stone Tour, released in the late 1980s and early 1990s a trilogy of rock albums that had revitalized her career

In 1979, Cher cut two disco music albums: Take Me Home and Prisoner. The former presented "loud, rhythmic, danceable" beats, while the latter was an autobiographical mix of disco and rock songs. Her 1980's album Black Rose contained all-male background singers, guitar work, multilayered keyboards, and an "ass-kicking attitude" in her vocals to cement her new "rock and roll" persona. It was followed by a series of rock albums that had revitalized her pop career: Cher (1987), Heart of Stone (1989) and Love Hurts (1991). Those albums shared a distinctive production style, characterized by "stressing" power chords, numerous backup singers, resonant keyboard blasts, and a repertoire of pop rock power ballad songs. The trilogy was also noted for having highlighted Cher's sexually autonomous persona through her "determined and chipper" vocals. For the album It's a Man's World (1995), Cher chose "steamy, torchy" ballads, Western-themed epics, and R&B influences to capitalize on the mid-1990s R&B/pop phenomenon. Her vocals were restrained and she sang the songs in higher registers, cutting her vibrato and revealing "vibrant and previously unheard colors of her voice", as well as a "surprisingly soulful falseto" in the song "One by One". Her 1998 album Believe was directed to her European audience, presenting uptempo pop confections while incorporating the U.S. brand of downtempo funk. The title track had an electronic vocal effect called Auto-Tune, which was suggested by Cher. It became known as the "Cher effect" and later received credit for having "revolutionized record-making." Her next album, Living Proof (2001), included heavy, electronic beats and lyrics about heartbreak, loneliness, and survival. It was also marked by the proeminent use of Auto-Tune, which gave Cher's voice a "canned electronic robot" sound.

Vocally, Cher is known for her distinctive contralto, which has been described as "large", "dark", "husky" and "smoky". For journalist Robert Fontenot, "Cher possessed one of the greatest and most unusual singing voices of her time". Ann Powers of The New York Times stated that she has "a quintessential rock voice: impure, quirky, a fine vehicle for projecting personality." Cher was praised for her songwriting efforts, particularly in the album Not.com.mercial (2000), the only of her career with a majority of the songs written by herself. Jose F. Promis of Allmusic wrote that the album presents a "1970s singer/songwriter feel" with "quite engaging lyrics" that proves "Cher adept in the role of storyteller." Another of her compositions, "My Song", a song co-written with musician Mark Hudson for her album Take Me Home (1979) about her relationship with Gregg Allman, was described by Keith Tuber of Orange Coast Magazine as "revealing psychologically". He added that "While some of the lyrics are contrived and forced, their honesty and the feeling Cher puts into it more than compensates ... Poignant, tearful, tragic, true. And beautifully recorded."

Legacy and public image

See also: List of awards and nominations received by Cher and Cher as a gay icon

Cher, seen here with Sonny Bono on a skit of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, is noted as being the first woman to expose her belly button on television

Cher (right), seen here with Farrah Fawcett at The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, became a fashion trendsetter with her Bob Mackie-designed outfits

Cher has appeared on the cover of People magazine 13 times. She figured twice on People's annual list of the "25 most intriguing people", in 1975 and 1987. She was also featured on the "100 Greatest Movie Stars of our Time" list compiled by the magazine. In 1992, Madame Tussauds wax museum immortalized her with a life-size statue as one of the five most beautiful women of history. In 1999, Cher received the Legend Award at the World Music Awards for her "lifelong contribution to the music industry". In a 2001 poll, A&E's Biography magazine ranked her as the third favorite leading actress of all time behind Audrey Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn. In 2002, she was honored with the Artist Achievement Award at Billboard Music Awards for having "helped redefine popular music through success on the Billboard charts." In 2010, she ranked 44th on the "75 Greatest Women of All Time" list compiled by Esquire magazine. Cher has stated she finds "strange" being the recipient of such honors; after she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Glamour magazine in 2010, she said, "It's like the kiss of death when you get honored for a lifetime achievement. It's like okay, it's over, this is your lifetime and you've achieved whatever you're going to achieve." Although Cher's regular exposure on television in the 1970s allowed people to see and hear her without having to buy her records, she has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. She is the only person in history to receive an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

External image
Cher's Time cover from March 17, 1975

Cher's fashion sense has inducted controversy over the years. In May 1999, after she was honored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America with a special award for her influence in fashion, Robin Givhan of Los Angeles Times called her a "fashion visionary" for "striking just the right note of contemporary wretched excess". She cited Tom Ford, Anna Sui and Dolce & Gabbana as "Influential designers [who] have evoked her name as a source of inspiration and guidance." She concluded that "Cher's Native American showgirl sexpot persona now seems to epitomize the fashion industry's rush to celebrate ethnicity, adornment and sex appeal." Cher emerged as a fashion trendsetter in the 1960s, popularizing the jet black long hair, bell bottoms, bare midriff, bandanas, Cherokee-inspired tunics, bangs, black eyeliner, and bobcat vests. She began working as a model in 1967 for photographer Richard Avedon, after being discovered by the then-Vogue magazine director Diana Vreeland. Avedon took the famous photo of her in a beaded and feathered nude gown for the cover of Time magazine in 1975. Cher has appeared five times on the cover of Vogue, between 1972 and 1975. Through her 1970s television shows, she became a sex symbol with her inventive and revealing Bob Mackie-designed outfits, and fought the network censors to bare her belly button. She is noted as being the first woman to expose her belly button on television. People magazine regarded Cher as the "pioneer of the belly beautiful". Booth Moore of Los Angeles Times wrote that "they don't make style icons like Cher anymore. From the beginning of her career ... she understood that cultivating a look was as important as cultivating a sound. Unlike today's stars, Cher wasn't a billboard for sale to the highest bidder. She was the world's Barbie doll, a living fashion fantasy week after week on TV, who landed simultaneously on best—and worst—dressed lists. Love her or hate her, she always keeps us guessing." Cher's video for "Hell on Wheels" (1979) holds the distinction of being one of the first rock videos ever produced in the "MTV style", even before its existence. Her "risqué" video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" (1989), in which she donned fishnet stockings and notoriously straddled the U.S. Navy battleship USS Missouri's 16-inch guns, was the first ever to be banned by MTV.

Cher's enduring success in various areas of entertainment earned her the nickname "Goddess of Pop". Throughout her career she has repeatedly reinvented herself through a series of "whole new" personas. Biographer Mark Bego wrote, "No one in the history of show business has had a career of the magnitude and scope of Cher's. She has been a teenage pop star, a television hostess, a fashion magazine model, a rock star, a pop singer, a Broadway actress, an Academy Award-winning movie star, a disco sensation, and the subject of a mountain of press coverage." Author Lucy O'Brien stated that "Cher adheres to the American Dream of reinvention of self: 'Getting old does not have to mean getting obsolete.'" She also wrote in her book She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul that "The Queen of 1980s Rock Chicks had to be Cher ... With her cascading hair, rear-end tattoo, fish-net stockings, black leather jackets and well-publicized romances with young heavy metal heroes ... it was as if she was playing the role of rock star." Author Craig Crawford claimed that Cher's success was based on "constantly reshaping her image according to what people think", and that she "studiously followed the evolving demands of the cultural marketplace, billing each dramatic turnaround of style as another example of rebellion—an image that allowed her to make calculated changes while appearing to be consistent." Conversely, Bego felt that, despite not being the "most talented actress" or "the most gifted vocalist", Cher has builded a career of strength, longevity and "true 'superstar' status" based "as much on her unpredictability as upon her talents".

Cher was called "an authentic feminist hero" by Ms. magazine and the "Queen of the Comeback" by The New York Times. She was credited by Chicago Tribune as "the person who paved the way for Madonna, Lady Gaga and many more." Her "integrity" and "perseverance" were highlighted in the Reaching Your Goals book series of illustrated inspirational readers for children, in which her life was detailed emphasizing the importance of self-actualization: "For years, Cher worked hard to become a successful singer. Then she worked hard to become an actress. Even when she needed money, she turned down movie roles that weren't right for her. Her goal has always been to be a good actress, not just a rich and famous one." Diane Negra, in her book Off-White Hollywood: American Culture and Ethnic Female Stardom, discussed Cher's ability to make comebacks after struggled periods, giving as examples, "the singer associated with hippie radicalism and youth culture in the 1960s becomes an icon of family-oriented entertainment in The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour; the single mother who dates scandalous rock stars becomes an Academy Award winning actress by 1987; that same film star descends to the low genres of infomercial and catalogue sales in the 1990s, then returns ... with 'quality' projects such as an HBO film on abortion." For her part, Cher has stated, "I feel like a bumper car. If I hit a wall, I'm backing up and going in another direction. And I've hit plenty of fucking walls in my career. But I'm not stopping. I think maybe that's my best quality: I just don't stop." Record producer David Geffen declared "Cher is the proverbial cat with nine lives" and that "She is as relevant today as she was ... in the sixties ... She can thrill, shock and amaze; that simply is Cher being Cher."

Plastic surgery

Cher, seen here performing with Sonny at The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, has been accused of replacing her "ethnic" features with a more "conventional" look

Cher's youthful-looking appearance has long been the subject of intense scrutiny, both by the public and the press. Grant McCracken, author of Transformations: Identity Construction in Contemporary Culture, commented that "Cher has been called the 'poster girl' of plastic surgery." He also drew a parallel between her plastic surgeries and the transformations in her career: "There is no public record of when ... Cher chose to have her plastic surgery. But it does seem more or less consistent with the rest of her transformational career. Her plastic surgery is not merely cosmetic. It is hyperbolic, extreme, over the top ... Cher has engaged in a transformational technology that is dramatic and irreversible." Caroline Ramazanoglu, author of Up Against Foucault: Explorations of Some Tensions Between Foucault and Feminism, wrote that "Cher's operations have gradually replaced a strong, decidedly 'ethnic' look with a more symmetrical, delicate, 'conventional' (i.e. Anglo-Saxon) and ever-youthful version of female beauty ... Cher admits to having had her breasts 'done', her nose bobbed and her teeth straightened; reportedly she has also had a rib removed, her buttocks reshaped, and cheek implants ... Her normalised image ... now acts as a standard against which other women will measure, judge, discipline and 'correct' themselves." Cher denies most of the rumors about her plastic surgery, and has stated, "I've had the same cheeks my entire life. No butt lifts. No ribs removed ... If I want to put my tits on my back, it's nobody's business but my own."

Tattoos

Cher's floral tattoo on her buttocks

Cher became famous for her many tattoos long before they were fashionable among women and female celebrities. According to the site Vanishing Tattoo, "Cher was one of the first celebrities to openly and enthusiastically embrace tattoos and body art, and with her outrageous sense of style and fashion, she played a pivotal role in the acceptance of tattoos within mainstream popular culture ... Her influence can be seen in the first supermodels that got tattoos[.]" Among her tattoos were a butterfly and floral design on her buttocks; a flowing necklace on her left upper arm with three charms hanging on it: an Egyptian ankh, a cross and a heart; a kanji on her right shoulder; a small cluster of Art Deco-like crystals on her inner right arm; a black orchid design just above the crease of her right thigh; and a chrysanthemum on her left ankle. In the late 1990s, Cher began having laser treatments to remove her tattoos. The process went underway in the 2000s. She commented, "When I got tattooed, only bad girls did it: me and Janis Joplin and biker chicks. Now it doesn't mean anything. No one's surprised. I got a tattoo right after I left Sonny [Bono] and I was feeling real independent. That was my badge."

Personal life

Humanitarian work

Cher's primary philanthropic endeavors have included support of health research and patient quality of life, anti-poverty initiatives, veterans rights, and vulnerable children. After her portrayal of the mother of a boy with a facial skull deformity in the 1985 film Mask, Cher served as a donor and the National Chairperson and Honorary Spokesperson of the Children's Craniofacial Association, whose mission is to "empower and give hope to facially disfigured children and their families". She has held that title since 1990. The annual Cher's Family Retreat is held each June to provide craniofacial patients, their siblings and parents an opportunity to interact with others who have endured similar experiences. Through the years, Cher has often donated concert tickets to families and non-profit groups for children with facial deformities. Cher also supports and actively promotes Get A-Head Charitable Trust, which aims to improve the quality of life for people with head and neck diseases.

In 1993, Cher participated in a humanitarian effort in Armenia, taking food and medical supplies to the war-torn region. In 1998, she co-hosted the annual American Foundation for AIDS Research Benefit at the Cannes Film Festival with Elizabeth Taylor. She is also the namesake of the Cher Charitable Foundation, which contributes "time and money to charities and causes close to her heart".

Cher has been a vocal supporter of American soldiers and returning veterans. She has donated over US $130,000 to Operation Helmet, an organization that provides free helmet upgrade kits to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cher has also contributed to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund which serves military personnel who have been disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those severely injured in other operations. Cher has engaged in the construction of houses with Habitat for Humanity and served as the Honorary National Chair of a Habitat's elimination of poverty housing initiative "Raise the Roof", an effort to engage artists in the organization's work while on tour. Cher is also a donor, fundraiser and international spokesperson for Keep a Child Alive, an organization that seeks to accelerate action to combat the global AIDS pandemic, including the provision of Antiretroviral medicine to children and their families with HIV/AIDS.

In 2007, Cher became the primary supporter of the Peace Village School (PVS) in Ukunda, Kenya, which "provides nutritious food, medical care, education and extracurricular activities for more than 300 orphans and vulnerable children, ages 2 to 13 years." Cher's support enabled the school to acquire land and build permanent housing and school facilities, and in partnership with Malaria No More and other organizations, she piloted an effort to eliminate malaria mortality and morbidity for the children, their caregivers and the surrounding community.

Political interests

Although Cher says she's not a registered Democrat, she has attended many Democratic conventions and events. Over the years, Cher became known for her political views, having been an outspoken critic of the conservative movement. She has commented that she didn't understand why anyone would be a Republican because eight years under the administration of George W. Bush "almost killed me". During the 2000 United States presidential election, ABC News wrote that she was determined to do "whatever possible to keep him [Bush] out of office". She told the site, "If you're black in this country, if you're a woman in this country, if you are any minority in this country at all, what could possibly possess you to vote Republican? ... You won't have one f---ing right left." She also said of George W., "I don't like Bush. I don't trust him. I don't like his record. He's stupid. He's lazy."

On October 27, 2003, Cher anonymously called a C-SPAN phone-in program. She recounted a visit she had made to maimed soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and criticized the lack of media coverage and government attention given to injured servicemen. She also remarked that she watches C-SPAN every day. Though she simply identified herself as an unnamed entertainer, she was recognized by the C-SPAN host, who subsequently questioned her about her 1992 support for independent presidential candidate Ross Perot. She said, "When I heard him talk right in the beginning, I thought that he would bring some sort of common-sense business approach and also less partisianship, but then ... I was completely disappointed like everyone else when he just kind of cut and run and no one knew exactly why ... Maybe he couldn't have withstood all the investigation that goes on now[.]" On Memorial Day weekend in 2006, Cher called into C-SPAN's Washington Journal endorsing Operation Helmet, a group that provides helmets to help soldiers avoid head injuries while in the war zone. On June 14, 2006, she made a guest appearance on C-SPAN with Dr. Bob Meaders, founder of Operation Helmet. That same year, in an interview with Stars and Stripes newspaper, Cher explained her "against the war in Iraq but for the troops" position: "I don't have to be for this war to support the troops because these men and women do what they think is right. They do what they're told to do. They do it with a really good heart. They do the best they can. They don't ask for anything."

Cher supported Hillary Clinton in her Presidential campaign: "I like Hillary. I think she'd make the best president. I think [Barack Obama]'s a good man. I think he's altruistic. I think he's smart. I think at some point he can be a great leader. I just don't think it's now." After Obama won the Democratic nomination, Cher supported his candidacy on TV programs. However, in a 2010 interview with Vanity Fair magazine, she commented that she "still thinks Hillary would have done a better job", although she "accepts the fact that Barack Obama inherited insurmountable problems". During the interview, she also stood against American politicians Sarah Palin ("Palin came on, and I thought, Oh, fuck, this is the end. Because a dumb woman is a dumb woman") and the then-Arizona governor Jan Brewer: "She was worse than Sarah Palin, if that is possible. This woman was like a deer in headlights. She's got a handle on the services of the state, and I would not let her handle the remote control."

Discography

Main articles: Cher albums discography, Cher singles discography, and Cher videography

See also: Sonny & Cher discography

• All I Really Want to Do (1965)
• The Sonny Side of Chér (1966)
• Chér (1966)
• With Love, Chér (1967)
• Backstage (1968)
• 3614 Jackson Highway (1969)
• Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves (1971)
• Foxy Lady (1972)
• Bittersweet White Light (1973)
• Half-Breed (1973)
• Dark Lady (1974)
• Stars (1975)
• I'd Rather Believe in You (1976)

• Cherished (1977)
• Take Me Home (1979)
• Prisoner (1979)
• Black Rose (1980)
• I Paralyze (1982)
• Cher (1987)
• Heart of Stone (1989)
• Love Hurts (1991)
• It's a Man's World (1995)
• Believe (1998)
• Not.com.mercial (2000)
• Living Proof (2001)

Tours and concerts

Main article: List of Cher concert tours

• Take Me Home Tour (1979–1982)
• Heart of Stone Tour (1989–1990)
• Love Hurts Tour (1992)
• Do You Believe? Tour (1999–2000)
• Living Proof: The Farewell Tour (2002–2005)
• Cher at the Colosseum (2008–2011)

Filmography

Main article: Cher filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Wild on the Beach	Herself	Cameo appearance
1967	Good Times	Herself
1969	Chastity	Chastity
1982	Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean	Sissy	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 2nd place—Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Best Supporting Actress 2nd place—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
1983	Silkwood	Dolly Pelliker	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1985	Mask	Florence 'Rusty' Dennis	Cannes Film Festival – Best Actress Award Tied with Norma Aleandro in The Official Story Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1987	Moonstruck	Loretta Castorini	Academy Award for Best Actress David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists – Best Foreign Actress Tied with Stéphane Audran in Babette's Feast Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated—Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actress
1987	Suspect	Kathleen Riley
1987	The Witches of Eastwick	Alexandra Medford
1990	Mermaids	Rachel Flax
1992	The Player	Herself	Cameo appearance
1994	Prêt-à-Porter	Herself	Cameo appearance
1996	Faithful	Margaret
1999	Tea with Mussolini	Elsa Morganthal Strauss-Armistan
2003	Stuck on You	Cher/Honey Garriet
2010	Burlesque	Tess	Satellite Award for Best Original Song Shared with Diane Warren (lyrics) for the song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me") Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song Shared with Diane Warren (lyrics) for the song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress Nominated—World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film Shared with Diane Warren (lyrics) for the song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"
2011	Zookeeper	Janet the Lioness	Voice-over role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Ramona	Episode: "The Hot Number Affair"
1970	The Sonny & Cher Nitty Gritty Hour	Herself
1971	Love, American Style	Herself	Episode: "Love and the Sack"
1971– 1974	The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour	Herself (co-host)/various characters	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Tied with Jean Stapleton for All in the Family Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special For episode on January 31, 1972 Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1972, 1973, 1974)
1972	The New Scooby-Doo Movies	Herself	Episode: "The Secret of Shark Island" (voice)
1975– 1976	Cher	Herself (host)/various characters	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
1976– 1977	The Sonny and Cher Show	Herself (co-host)/various characters
1978	Cher... Special	Herself/various characters
1979	Cher and Other Fantasies	Herself
1983	Cher: A Celebration at Caesars	Herself	CableACE Award – Actress in a Variety Program
1990	Cher Extravaganza: Live at the Mirage	Herself
1996	If These Walls Could Talk	Dr. Beth Thompson	Also director (segment "1996") Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1999	VH1 Divas Live 2	Herself
1998	Sonny & Me: Cher Remembers	Herself
1999	Cher: Live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas	Herself	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
2000– 2002	Will & Grace	Herself	Episodes: "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed" and "A.I.: Artificial Insemination"
2002	VH1 Divas Las Vegas	Herself
2003	Cher: The Farewell Tour	Herself	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special

Theatre plays

• Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

Bibliography

• Cher: Forever Fit – The Lifetime Plan for Health, Fitness and Beauty (1991) with Robert Haas
• Cooking for Cher by Andrew Ennis (1997) Cher is credited with writing the foreword
• The First Time (1999) with Jeff Coplon
• Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids by Kip Fulbeck (2010) Cher is credited with writing the afterword

See also

• Honorific nicknames in popular music
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of best-selling music artists in the United States
• Mononymous person

References

• Bego, Mark (2004). Cher: If You Believe. Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 0815411537. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Berman, Connie (2001). Cher Women of Achievement. Facts On File, Incorporated. ISBN 1438124198. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bronson, Fred (1997). The Billboard book of number one hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0823076415. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lazell, Barry (1989). Rock movers & shakers. Billboard Publications. ISBN 0823076083. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• King, Thomas R. (2000). The operator: David Geffen builds, buys, and sells the new Hollywood. Random House. ISBN 0679457542. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Laufenberg, Norbert B. (2005). Entertainment Celebrities. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1412053358Template:Inconsistent citations {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
• Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (2003). Hollywood Songsters: Allyson to Funicello. Routledge. ISBN 0415943329. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1999). Rock stars encyclopedia. DK Pub. ISBN 0789446138. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Official website
• Official Cher YouTube channel
• Cher at AllMusic
• Cher at IMDb
• Cher on X
• Children's Craniofacial Association (CCA). National Spokesperson: Cher