23 October 2024, 14:04

Cher is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s long overdue.

Cher is simply one of the biggest stars in the history of music.

Known as the Goddess of Pop, she’s straddled era after era and remained at the top of her game for over half a century now.

As well as her countless hit records, she’s also racked up several big name movie appearances and even won an Oscar, Golden Globes and an Emmy (making her an EGO… which I don’t think she’d mind).

Cher has also grabbed plenty of attention over the years for her high profile personal relationships and admirable activism.

Below, we celebrate the life and work of Cher by rounding up all the fast facts you need.

What’s Cher’s real name and how old is she?

Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946, which makes her 78 years old at the time of writing (though she did later change her name to Cher).

Her dad was Armenian-American truck driver John Sarkisian, and her mum actress Georgia Holt (then known as Jackie Jean Crouch).

Cher’s dad’s parents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide, a fact that would later impact her own political activism.

Where did Cher grow up?

Cher’s parents divorced when she was just ten months old, and her mum remarried to actor John Southall.

The family moved to Los Angeles, where Cher’s mum changed her name to Georgia and began acting while also working as an waitress.

Cher’s mum got married and divorced seven times to six men (she briefly remarried Cher’s dad John in 1965), which made her daughter’s homelife somewhat tumultuous.

It was in 1961, when Georgia married bank manager Gilbert LaPiere, that Cher was enrolled in the swanky Montclair College Preparatory School in in Van Nuys, Los Angeles.

Cher dropped out of school when she was 16, moved in with a friend, and looked to become a star.

How did Cher get into music?

Cher always, always had an eye on fame.

“I couldn’t think of anything that I could do,” she was quoted as saying in an 2001 biography.

“I didn’t think I’d be a singer or dancer. I just thought, well, I’ll be famous. That was my goal.”

Despite not realising her obvious talent, Cher was actually putting in the work from an early age.

She produced a performance of Oklahoma! for her class when she was in just fifth grade, and her classmates at prep school later spoke of her obvious star appeal.

Cher had been absorbing the influence of the likes of Audrey and Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and Bette Davis.

As a 16-year-old drop-put, Cher took acting classes and also became a club singer on the Sunset Strip.

It was in November 1962 that she met Sonny Bono, who was then working for Phil Spector.

Cher became Sonny’s housekeeper. Sonny introduced to her to Phil. Phil employed her as a backup singer on several all-time great records, including The Ronettes‘ ‘Be My Baby’ and The Righteous Brothers’ ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.

What was Cher’s first single… and what was her first hit?

Cher’s first single was the novelty record ‘Ringo, I Love You’ and it was released under the name Bonnie Jo Mason.

Released in March 1964 in a bid to capitalise on Beatlemania, the song was apparently a minor hit in Buffalo, New York but was a total flop nationally.

The song was written by Phil Spector with Paul Case, Vini Poncia and Peter Andreoli. Spector is believed to have produced the song, though it doesn’t have his trademark Wall of Sound vibe.

It was released not on Spector’s own Philles Records label, but instead his short-lived Annette Records label, named after his first wife.

If you’ve got an original copy of ‘Ringo, I Love You’, take care of it. It’s worth a few hundred quid.

The single was followed up by a batch of Sonny & Cher duets, inexplicably released under the name Caesar & Cleo, releasing flop covers of songs like ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’, ‘Love Is Strange’, and ‘Let the Good Times Roll’.

Sonny and Cher kept their parallel duet going on, and on the solo side off things ‘Ringo, I Love You’ was followed up by ‘Dream Baby’, written by Sonny Bono and released under the name Cherilyn.

It also flopped (though at least this song was later included on Cher’s first, successful, album).

Cher’s first single released under the Cher name was ‘All I Really Want To Do’, a cover of Bob Dylan‘s classic.

Produced by Sonny Bono, it was released in May 1965 and went all the way to 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, the same week that The Byrds‘ own cover entered the Hot 100.

Cher’s version did better in the US, with the opposite being true in the UK.

The song gave its name to Cher’s first album, All I Really Want To Do.

That covers-packed collection went to number 16 in the US Billboard 200, and number 7 in the UK.

How many times has Cher been married, and does she have any children?

Starting off as musical collaborators, Sonny and Cher became pals, then romantically involved.

They even had their own “wedding” in a hotel in Tijuana, Mexico, on October 27, 1964.

While they continued to work together, Sonny and Cher had an on-off romantic relationship as the decade continued, but decided to make things serious at the end of the 1960s.

Cher gave birth to their child Chaz Bono on March 4, 1969 and Sonny and Cher had a legal marriage ceremony soon after.

But by 1972, things were falling apart. The couple stayed together on paper, but eventually Sonny filed for divorce in February 1972. Cher countered with her own divorce suit. After two years of wrangling over finances and child custody, their divorce was finalised in June 1975.

During their separation, Cher dated record label suit David Geffen for two years.

But just four days after Sonny and Cher’s divorce was actually finalised, she married The Allman Brothers’ star Gregg Allman.

This marriage seemed no less fraught than the one that preceded it, with Cher filing for divorce just nine days after the wedding.

They got back together and had a son, Elijah Blue, together in June 1976.

Gregg and Cher even released a collaborative album together, called Two the Hard Way, released under the odd artist name Allman and Woman.

They split after the album and divorced in 1979. At this time, Cher neatened things up, legally changing her name from Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere Bono Allman to Cher.

Cher hasn’t married since, and hasn’t had any more children, though she has had some high profile relationships over the years.

That included flings with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, Les Dudek, Val Kilmer, Eric Stoltz, Tom Cruise, Ron Duguay, Josh Donen and Richie Sambora.

Her most recent boyfriend is music exec Alexander “AE” Edwards, who is 40 years her junior.

What are Cher’s biggest songs?

We called Cher “era-straddling” and here’s a couple of facts to underline that claim:

• Cher is the only artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past seven decades
• Cher is the only solo artist to have a top 40 UK hit in seven consecutive decades

Before we list her solo efforts, it’s worth mentioning her most successful duets with artistic and romantic partner Sonny Bono, released under the name Sonny & Cher:

• Baby Don’t Go
• Just You
• I Got You Babe
• But You’re Mine
• What Now My Love
• Laugh at Me
• Little Man
• The Beat Goes On
• All I Ever Need Is You
• A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done
• When You Say Love

Cher’s biggest solo songs include:

• All I Really Want to Do
• Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
• Alfie
• You Better Sit Down Kids
• Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves
• The Way of Love
• Living in a House Divided
• Half-Breed
• Dark Lady
• Train of Thought
• Take Me Home
• I Found Someone
• We All Sleep Alone
• After All (with Peter Cetera)
• Dead Ringer For Love (with Meat Loaf)
• If I Could Turn Back Time
• Just Like Jesse James
• Heart of Stone
• The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss)
• Love and Understanding
• Believe
• The Music’s No Good Without You
• Fernando (with Andy García)
• DJ Play a Christmas Song

What are Cher’s biggest films?

Cher’s first on-screen roles came as a child extra in parts nabbed via her mum on shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

She popped up in beach party movie Wild on the Beach in 1965 as herself alongside Sonny. The couple played fictionalised versions of themselves once more in William Friedkin’s debut movie Good Times.

Cher’s first proper, solo role came as the title character in 1969’s Chastity, which was written and produced by Sonny.

The film flopped, and Cher put her acting career on the back burner for over a decade.

During her time away from the movies, Cher swapped the big screen for small, and was on the telly non-stop in a series of variety and musical shows, like The Sonny & Cher Nitty Gritty Hour (1970), The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971–1974), Cher (1975–1976) and The Sonny and Cher Show (1976–1977).

She returned to the big screen as Sissy in Robert Altman’s Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean in 1982.

Cher went on to pick up rave reviews working for big name directors in the years that followed.

That inlcluded Mike Nichols’ Silkwood, for which she won a Golden Globe, Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask, Peter Yates’ Suspect and George Miller’s The Witches of Eastwick.

Then came Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck, which saw Cher win not just another Golden Globe, but also a Best Actress Oscar for her lead role as Loretta Castorini.

Cher also impressed in 1990’s Mermaids, before reuniting with Altman for cameos in The Player and Prêt-à-Porter.

Her later movie hits included 2010’s Burlesque and 2018’s musical sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

What is Cher’s net worth?

We all know that the experts are really only giving their best guess, but if you’re wondering, the people at Celebrity Net Worth say that Cher is worth over $360 million (£278 million).

That’s no surprise, as she’s sold over 100 million records and starred in a run of critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies, too.

And even when ill-health affected her career in the 1990s, she netted nearly $10 million by doing informercials for health and beauty products.