Background

Ethnicity: Cher is of Armenian heritage on her father's side, and of English and German, with more distant Irish, Dutch, and French, heritage on her mother's side.

The daughter of an Armenian truck driver, John Sarkisian, and an Arkansas-born mother, Georgia Holt (the former Jackie Jean Crouch), Cher was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. She and sister Georganne LaPiere are part Cherokee and French. The father deserted the family when both were young and they were raised by their mother who later married Gilbert LaPiere, a banker.

Education

Cherilyn Sarkisian was smart and talented, but dyslexia (not diagnosed until later in her life) hindered this midriff-bearing, Audrey Hepburn-idolizing teenager from getting good grades. She opted for acting classes instead.

Cher went to Montclair College Preparatory School only for one year. In 1962, the sixteen-year-old Cher left school due to her struggles which would later be attributed to dyslexia.

Career

Cher left high school at 16 and moved to Hollywood. She reputedly met Salvatore “Sonny” Bono, who was a protégé of iconic producer Phil Spector, at a coffee shop. (Cher in fact sang backup on such famed Spector songs like the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.”) Though Sonny wasn’t initially interested in Cher romantically, the two developed a romantic relationship and eventually wed on October 27, 1964.

The couple worked on their act for a time and became known as Sonny and Cher. Under the Atco label, the duo scored a monumental chart-topper in 1965 with "I Got You Babe." Sonny and Cher had a countercultural persona with distinctive bohemian stylings and continued to release popular singles, as seen with “Baby Don’t Go,” the socially-aware “The Beat Goes On,” “Little Man” and “What Now My Love.” Cher had also signed to Imperial as a solo artist. After releases such as Bob Dylan’s “All I Really Want to Do” and “Where Do You Go,” she had her first top 5 solo single with “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).”

Yet by the end of the decade the hits had stopped coming for Sonny and Cher, and the duo faced major financial difficulties due to IRS debt. They thus developed a cabaret act, having already taken on what would be perceived as more adult sensibilities in terms of their image. Their show, which included loads of comedic banter, led to the couple helming a summer replacement telecast for CBS. This in turn led to the launch of their own variety program in 1971, the Emmy-nominated The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, which ran until 1974. The show also revitalized Sonny and Cher’s music career, and more top 10 hits came in the form of “All I Ever Need Is You” and “A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done.”

But behind-the-scene tensions were high, and Cher would later describe Sonny as being a rigid, controlling entity when it came to business. The couple divorced the following year, and Cher had her own Emmy-nominated self-titled TV show which ran from 1975-76.

Cher had started to establish herself as a solo artist during the 1960s. Early on she was known for songs that were provocative in their sensibilities and spoke to her perceived status as an outsider, a mode she would come to embrace over time. She enjoyed a top 10 hit with “You Better Sit Down Kids,” in which she sang from the perspective of a father explaining the realities of a marital split to his children. For the 1971 album Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves (originally called Cher), she had the first No. 1 solo hit of her career with the title track, which spoke of a “travelin’ show” family and teen pregnancy. Another top 10 hit, "The Way of Love," found Cher singing to a lover who’s left her for a man. And she reached the top of the charts yet again with the title track from the 1974 album Half-Breed, which presented the ongoing persecution of a partially Native-American narrator stuck between two worlds.

Immediately after her divorce from Sonny, Cher was unable to work as a performer due to contractual entanglements from their business relationships and took on gigs as a model. She later credited executive David Geffen for helping her navigate financial matters and take control of her career.

Cher was again able to reach the pop top 10 by the end of the decade with the string-laden disco number “Take Me Home,” from the 1979 album of the same name on the Casablanca label.

Having appeared in a handful of screen projects previously, Cher seriously pursued an acting career in the 1980s. She appeared on Broadway in the play Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean in 1982, and reprised the role of Sissy in its film adaptation. She continued to earn the respect of critics and fans alike by turning in a number of strong big-screen performances, taking on the role of Meryl Streep’s lesbian roommate Dolly Pelliker in the 1983 drama Silkwood. Cher earned a supporting actress Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for the role. Then in 1985 she starred in the Peter Bogdanovich film Mask as the defiant, emotionally struggling mother of a son with craniodiaphyseal dyaplasia, which radically alters the shape of his face.

1987 was a banner year for Cher which saw her starring in three films: the thriller Suspect (with Dennis Quaid), the mischievous supernatural romp The Witches of Eastwick (with Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson) and the textured romantic comedy Moonstruck, which also starred Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia. Cher portrayed Loretta Castorini, an Italian New Yorker who reclaims her sensuality and goes against convention when pursued by the passionate brother (Nicolas Cage) of her fiancé (Danny Aiello). For a widely acclaimed performance in what has become a movie classic, Cher won her first Oscar for Best Actress.

Even with the acting accolades, Cher returned to the music business. During the same year of the release of Moonstruck, she released a self-titled album, which featured the pop/rock top 10 comeback “I Found Someone,” an emotional testimonial to new love. More power rock followed with the 1989 album Heart of Stone, which offered two more top 10 hits - “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Just Like Jesse James.” The music video for “If I Could Turn Back Time” particularly caused a stir, with the singer appearing in a leather jacket and sheer body stocking, serenading a crowd of ecstatic sailors on a military carrier. The outfit was deemed so controversial that MTV would only air the video during nighttime hours.

Over the years, Cher has not only pushed sensibilities with her music but also with her extravagant, unusual costumes and barely-there accoutrements. She has routinely worked over the decades with designer Bob Mackie, who has created a series of outfits for the star that are theatrical and unabashedly fun. Cher has also sometimes aimed to make a point with her attire, purposely wearing to the 1986 Academy Awards ceremony a famed black chain-link halter and matching feather headdress, meant as a form of protest over not receiving a nomination for her work in Mask. Fast forward to the 1989 Oscars and she once again went with Mackie in a more understated approach, sporting a streamlined mini-dress with frills.

By the end of the ‘80s, Cher had begun to struggle with symptoms related to chronic fatigue syndrome. She continued to do screen work off and on, as seen with the drama/comedy Mermaids (1990), co-starring Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci, the HBO film If These Walls Could Talk (1996) and the historical comedy/drama Tea With Mussolini, co-starring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Lily Tomlin. She later starred with popster Christina Aguilera in 2010’s Burlesque, though the movie didn’t fare well commercially, with Cher also critiquing the final product.

While the ‘80s and early ‘90s saw Cher showing off her rock chops, she scored another top 40 hit with her mainstream pop cover of "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)," off the soundtrack for Mermaids. And the singer once again made her presence known in the clubs as seen with her single “One by One,” off the 1996 album It’s a Man’s World. The 1998 album Believe placed the singer firmly in dance/electronica territory, with the up-tempo title track becoming a huge global hit and selling millions of copies. “Believe” also inspired an enduring trend of music producers relying on vocoders and earned a Grammy for Best Dance Recording, with the empowerment anthem “Strong Enough” reigning on the dance charts as well.

Cher released her next studio album, Living Proof, in the United States in 2002, with the set having been released in Europe the previous year. The album featured the single "(This Is) A Song for the Lonely," which did well on the dance charts and was written to honor those affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Other tracks on the album included "Alive Again" and "A Different Kind of Love Song." Following Living Proof's release, Cher said "so long" to performing live with a 325-date farewell tour, which ran from 2002 to 2005.

In 2003 NBC aired one of Cher's live performances as Cher: The Farewell Tour. The program was nominated for six 2003 Emmy Awards and won three, for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Camerawork, Video for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special; and Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program.

Two years later, Cher returned to the stage, despite previously announcing plans to retire from live performances. She debuted a show entitled Cher at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on May 6, 2008, and had performed 192 shows by the end of the series, in February 2011.

Cher released her first album in 12 years in September 2013. As she explained to Reuters, Closer to the Truth is "my best effort ever, so I'm happy with that." She enjoyed more dance chart success with album singles “Woman’s World,” “Take It Like a Man” and “I Walk Alone.” Cher returned to touring in March 2014 to promote Closer, but had to cancel dates due to a kidney infection. In February 8, 2017, the music legend returned to the stage, launching her Classic Cher show at the Park Theater at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Her tour de force performance included some of her greatest hits and costumes designed by Bob Mackie.

In May 2017, the pop legend received the Billboard Icon Award, after a high-voltage performance of her hits "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time." In her acceptance speech, she spoke about the longevity of her music career: "So, I've wanted to do what I do since I was 4 years old. And I've been doing it for 53 years. That is not an applause thing, I'm 71 yesterday. And I can do a five-minute plank, okay? Just saying."

Later that year, a full-length trailer for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, the sequel to the 2008 adaptation of the popular Broadway production, showed the ageless diva reuniting with her old screen colleague Meryl Streep.

Achievements

• 

  Cher has won a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Cannes Film Festival Award, a special CFDA Fashion Award, and a Kennedy Center Honors prize, among several other honors. She has sold 100 million records worldwide to date, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. She is the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each decade from the 1960s to the 2010s. Outside of her music and acting, she is noted for her political views, philanthropic endeavors, and social activism, including LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Good Times 1967
  • Chastity 1969
  • Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean 1982
  • Silkwood 1983
  • Mask: Eric Stoltz, Cher, Sam Elliott, Estelle Getty 1985
  • Suspect 1987
  • The Witches of Eastwick 1987
  • Moonstruck 1987
  • Mermaids 1990
  • Prêt-à-Porter 1994
  • Faithful 1996
  • If These Walls Could Talk 1996
  • Tea With Mussolini 1999
  • Stuck On You 2003
  • Burlesque 2010
  • Zookeeper 2011
  • Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again 2018

• music

  • All I Really Want To Do 1965
  • The Sonny Side Of Chér 1965
  • With Love, Cher 1967
  • Backstage 1968
  • 3614 Jackson Highway 1969
  • Foxy Lady 1972
  • Bittersweet White Light 1973
  • Half-Breed 1973
  • Dark Lady 1973
  • Stars 1975
  • I'd Rather Believe In You 1976
  • Cherished 1977
  • Take Me Home 1979
  • Prisoner 1979
  • I Paralyze 1982
  • Heart Of Stone 1989
  • Love Hurts 1991
  • It's A Man's World 1995
  • Believe 1998
  • Not.com.mercial 2000
  • Living Proof 2001
  • Closer To The Truth 2013

Religion

Cher had a tumultuous childhood, where religion was probably not present–at least in any significant amount. Now, she calls herself a Buddhist, though a self-proclaimed lazy one. She once admitted:

"I am the worst Buddhist ever. I love reading it and saying the prayers, but I’m such a lazy-assed Buddhist. I meditate but only when I want to. I’m so stubborn. I don’t like to be forced to do anything. If you try and force me, it’s the wrong thing to do."

Politics

Cher has said that she is not a registered Democrat, but has attended many Democratic conventions and events. Over the years, Cher's political views have attracted media attention, and she has been an outspoken critic of the conservative movement. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she was critical of a variety of political topics, including Republican politicians like Sarah Palin and Jan Brewer. She has commented that she did not understand why anyone would be a Republican because eight years under the administration of George W. Bush "almost killed [her]".

Cher supported Hillary Clinton in her Presidential campaign, as she noted on Entertainment Tonight in February 2008. Clinton, in return, said she was thrilled to have Cher's support. After Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, Cher supported his candidacy on radio and TV programs, including a November 3 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Views

Cher has been involved with many humanitarian groups and charity efforts over the years. After appearing in the movie Mask, she served as National Chairperson and Honorary Spokesperson of the Children’s Craniofacial Association. Since that time, Cher has supported the organization with her time and talent and has been CCA's most generous contributor. Over the years while touring, she frequently donated concert tickets to families and non-profit groups for children and youth with facial deformities.

Cher promotes public awareness of individuals with craniofacial conditions and the problems these individuals and their families face. She is dedicated to doing everything possible to "spread the word."

Quotations: "I don't like my voice that much. I think I'm a much better actress than singer. Singing is like going to a party at someone else's house. Acting is like having the party at your own house. When you go to someone else's house for a party, it's not your responsibility at all, but when you have the party at your own house, there's a lot of responsibility. Everyone has to have a good time. So for me, acting is deeper."

"In this business, you have to be tough, and if someone pushes me really far, I can certainly be impossible. I've always said, "If you're nice, they walk over you, and if you stand up for yourself, they call you a bitch."

"I'm not a role model, nor have I ever tried to be a role model. The only thing about me as a role model is I've managed to stay here and be working and survive. For 40 years."

"I'm like a bumper car. When I did an infomercial I was fodder for every TV comedy show. I couldn't get a . People said I was a huge joke. I've been a joke so many times. I've been on my way out since I started, but I'm strong-willed. My mother is so much tougher than I am and my grandmother is so much tougher than my mother."

"I haven't a clue why I've lasted so long. There's no reason. There are many people more talented than me. I think it's luck."

[on friendship] "I can trust my friends... these people force me to examine myself, encourage me to grow."

"Men aren't necessities, they're luxuries."

"I don't think of myself as a singer. I don't have that kind of confidence. I want to put on a show. I want to dazzle people. For me, everything goes through my eyes first. Even when I did 'The Star Spangled Banner' I was wondering : What should I wear?"

Membership

• 

  Cher served as a donor and as the National Chairperson and Honorary Spokesperson for the Children's Craniofacial Association.

  Children's Craniofacial Association

  1990 - 2018

• 

  Cher is a donor, fundraiser, and international spokesperson for Keep a Child Alive.

  Keep a Child Alive

Personality

Time magazine's Cady Lang described Cher as a "cultural phenomenon [who] has forever changed the way we see celebrity fashion." Cher emerged as a fashion trendsetter in the 1960s, popularizing "hippie fashion with bell-bottoms, bandanas, and Cherokee-inspired tunics".

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 navel. Although Cher has been erroneously attributed to being the first woman to expose her navel on television, she was the most prominent to do so since the establishment of the American Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters in 1951, which prompted network censors to ban navel exposure on U.S. television.

Cher is considered a gay icon, and has often been imitated by drag queens. According to Salon magazine's Thomas Rogers, "[d]rag queens imitate women like Judy Garland, Dolly Parton and Cher because they overcame insult and hardship on their path to success, and because their narratives mirror the pain that many gay men suffer on their way out of the closet." Cher's performance as a lesbian in the film Silkwood, as well as her transition to dance music and social activism, have further contributed to her becoming a gay icon. The NBC sitcom Will & Grace acknowledged Cher's status by making her the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. Cher guest-starred as herself twice on the show, in 2000 and 2002.

Physical Characteristics: Cher has attracted media attention for her physical appearance - particularly her youthful looks and her tattoos. Journalists have often called her the "poster girl" of plastic surgery.

Cher has six tattoos. The Baltimore Sun called her the "Ms. Original Rose Tattoo". She got her first tattoo in 1972. According to Sonny Bono, "Calling her butterfly tattoos nothing was like ignoring a sandstorm in the Mojave. That was exactly the effect Cher wanted to create. She liked to do things for the shock they created. She still does. She'll create some controversy and then tell her critics to stick it." In the late 1990s, she began having laser treatments to remove her tattoos. The process was still 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."

Cher has a contralto singing voice, described by author Nicholas E. Tawa as "bold, deep, and with a spacious vibrato". Ann Powers of The New York Times called it "a quintessential rock voice: impure, quirky, a fine vehicle for projecting personality." AllMusic's Bruce Eder wrote that the "tremendous intensity and passion" of Cher's vocals coupled with her "ability to meld that projection with her acting skills" can provide "an incredibly powerful experience for the listener."

Quotes from others about the person

• Caroline Ramazanoglu: "Сher's operations have gradually replaced a strong, decidedly 'ethnic' look with a more symmetrical, delicate, 'conventional' ... and ever-youthful version of female beauty ... Her normalised image ... now acts as a standard against which other women will measure, judge, discipline and 'correct' themselves."
  
  Beyoncé Knowles: "I love that in the seventies Cher and Diana Ross looked like superstars and never played it safe. When they were onstage, they gave you drama - and I love drama."
  
  Lady Gaga: "[On the outfit Cher wears in the music video for the song "If I Could Turn Back Time"] I dress like that! That's my everyday look. Maybe just sort of subliminally when I was younger, without even realizing it, one day I knew that [Cher] was the kind of woman I would become."
  
  Tori Amos: "Cher has been able to show people that as she ages, she’s still sexy and sensual."

Interests

• Favorite actresses: Audry Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn.
  
  Favorite food: chocolate.
  
  Favorite colors: Purple and Black.

• Politicians

  Hillary Clinton

• Writers

  Jonathan Kirsch

• Music & Bands

  Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton

Connections

Sonny Bono and Cher first met in 1962. They claimed to have been married as early as 1963, and had a wedding ceremony in Tijuana, Mexico on October 27, 1964. Their only child is Chaz Bono, previously called Chastity Bono, born on March 4, 1969. Sonny and Cher divorced on June 27, 1975 after 13 years together. The divorce resulted in the cancellation of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.

Later that year, Cher married her second husband, rock star Gregg Allman. Their son, Elijah Blue Allman of the band Deadsy, was born on July 10, 1976. They separated in 1977 and divorced two years later.

Father:

Jhon Sarkisian

John Sarkisian was an Armenian refugee who worked as a truck driver. Cher didn't meet her real father until she was eleven years old.

Mother:

Georgia Holt

Georgia Holt was born on June 9, 1927 in Kensett, Arkansas, USA as Jackie Jean Crouch. She is an actress, known for Dear Mom, Love Cher (2013) & Superstars and Their Moms (1987).She is of Cherokee, English and French descent. Cher's parents divorced when she was young and she was raised primarily by her mother, who at one time was married to Gilbert LaPierre, a banker who adopted Cher.

step-father:

Gilbert LaPierre

Born 29 June 1923, Gilbert would eventually become the husband of Cher's mother, Georgia Holt. He adopted Cher at a very early age and she took his name.

After Georgia and Gilbert divorced, he would stay married to his next wife, Beverly, for over thirty years, until her death in 1997.

half-sister:

Georganne LaPiere

Georganne LaPiere was born on September 7, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA as Georganne Elizabeth LaPiere. She is an actress, known for General Hospital (1963), If These Walls Could Talk (1996) and Protocol (1984). She is married to Ed Bartylak. She was previously married to Michael Madsen.

husband:

Sonny Bono

Singer-entertainer who left show business and found himself in politics. He became mayor of Palm Springs, California and was eventually elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as Congressman from the State of California, a position he held until his death.

husband:

Gregg Allman

Gregg Allman is one of the co-founders of the popular 1970s rock group the Allman Brothers Band.

Son:

Elijah Allman

Elijah Allman was born on July 10, 1976 in Beverly Hills, California, USA as Elijah Blue Allman. Member of Goth Rock band, Deadsy.

Son:

Chaz Bono (born as Chastity Sun Bono)

Chaz Bono is an Emmy-nominated media figure who, born the daughter of performers Sonny and Cher, has undergone gender reassignment. Chaz is an LGBT rights advocate, three time author and speaker.

Friend:

Meryl Streep

Meryl and Cher first met on the set of Silkwood in 1983 and immediately became friends.

best friend:

Paulette Howell

Cher and Paulette met when she was 26 years old. They've been best friends ever since. Pauliette is a very supportive friend, she often goes to Cher's concerts and they hang out together a lot.

Friend:

Loree Rodkin

References

• Cher: Strong Enough
• Cher: All I Really Want to Do
• Cher: A Biography
• Cher!: The Goddess of Pop!
• Cher: You Haven't Seen the Last of Me
• Cher: If You Believe
• Cher: Singer and Actress (Reaching Your Goal)
• Cher: Complete Recordings Illustrated