Cherilyn Sarkisian (born May 20, 1946), professionally known as Cher (/ˈʃɛər/),
is an American singer, actress and entertainer. Described as embodying
female autonomy in a male-dominated industry, she is known for her
distinctive contralto
singing voice and for having worked in various areas of entertainment,
as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances during her
career, which has led to her being nicknamed the Goddess of Pop.
Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband–wife duo Sonny & Cher after their first hit, "I Got You Babe". She began her solo career simultaneously, releasing in 1966 her first million-seller song, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". Goldmine
magazine's Phill Marder described her as the leader of an effort in the
1960s to "advance feminine rebellion in the rock world [and] the
prototype of the female rock star, setting the standard for appearance
[and] attitude".[1] After the duo had lost its young audience owing to their monogamous, anti-drug lifestyle during the period of the sexual revolution and the rise of the drug culture, she returned to stardom in the 1970s as a television personality with her shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, watched by over 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, and Cher.
She became a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on her
television shows. While working on television, she established herself
as a solo artist with the number-one singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady". After her divorce from Sonny Bono
in 1975, Cher's much-publicized personal life led to a decline in her
career, although she launched a minor comeback in 1979 with the disco-oriented album Take Me Home and earned $300,000 a week for her 1980–1982 residency show in Las Vegas.
In the early 1980s, Cher made her Broadway debut, and then starred in the film Silkwood, as Dolly Pelliker, and her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983. In the ensuing years, she starred in films such as Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and Moonstruck, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988. She made her directorial debut in the 1996 film If These Walls Could Talk. At the same time, she established herself as a rock singer by releasing platinum albums such as Heart of Stone (1989) and top-ten singles such as "I Found Someone" and "If I Could Turn Back Time". She reached a new commercial peak in 1998 with the song "Believe", which features the pioneering use of Auto-Tune, also known as the "Cher effect".[2] Her 2002–2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour
ended up as the highest-grossing music tour by a female artist then. In
2008, she signed a $60 million per-year deal to headline the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for three years. After seven years of absence, she returned to film in the 2010 musical Burlesque. Cher's first studio album in 12 years, Closer to the Truth (2013), became her highest-charting solo album in the U.S. to date.
Biographer Mark Bego wrote, "No one in the history of show business has had a career of the magnitude and scope of Cher's."[3] She has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a special CFDA Fashion Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Cannes Film Festival award, among several other honors. She has sold 150 million records worldwide,[4] making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She is the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.[5] Outside of her music and acting, she is noted for her political views, philanthropic endeavors and activism for LGBT rights.
Early life
Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946.[6] Her father, John Sarkisian, was an Armenian-American truck driver with drug and gambling problems, and her mother, Jackie Jean Crouch, was an occasional model and bit-part actress with Irish, English, German, French, Dutch, and Cherokee ancestry.[7]
Cher's father was rarely home when she was an infant, ultimately
divorcing Crouch when Cher was ten months old. They married and divorced
twice more.[8]
After the first divorce from Sarkisian, Crouch married another man. The
third of Crouch's eight marriages was to actor John Southall, the
father of Cher's half-sister, Georganne.[9]
By then living in Los Angeles, Crouch was pursuing an acting career
while working as a waitress. She changed her name to Georgia Holt and
earned minor roles in films and on television. Holt secured acting parts
for her daughters as extras on television shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.[10]
Although her mother's romantic relationship with Southall ended when
Cher was nine years old, she considers him her father and remembers him
as a "good-natured man who turned belligerent when he drank too much".[11]
As Holt remarried and divorced, the family moved from place to place
(including New York, Texas and California) and often had little money.[12] Cher remembered using rubber bands at one time to hold her shoes together.[11] At one point, Holt had to put Cher in an orphanage for several weeks.[13] Although they met every day, both Holt and Cher found the experience traumatic.[11]
Cher's family first noticed her creativity when in the fifth grade,
she produced for her teacher and class a performance of the musical Oklahoma!.
She organized a group of girls, directing and choreographing their
dance routines. Unable to convince boys to participate, she acted the
male roles and sang their songs. By age nine, she had developed an
unusually low voice.[14] Fascinated by film stars, Cher's role model was Audrey Hepburn, particularly due to her role in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Cher began to pattern her outfits and behavior after the eccentric, fast-living character portrayed by Hepburn.[15] She was disappointed by the absence of dark-haired Hollywood actresses whom she could emulate then.[15]
She had wanted to be famous since childhood but felt unattractive and
untalented, later commenting, "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."[16]
In 1961, Holt married bank manager Gilbert LaPiere, who adopted Cher (under the name Cheryl LaPiere) and her half-sister, Georganne, and enrolled them at Montclair College Preparatory School, a private school in Van Nuys, whose students were mostly from affluent families.[17][16]
The school's upper-class environment presented a challenge for Cher;
biographer Connie Berman wrote, "[she] stood out from the others in both
her striking appearance and outgoing personality."[16]
A former classmate commented, "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."[16]
Despite not being an excellent student, Cher was intelligent and
creative, according to Berman. She earned good grades, excelling in
French and English classes. As an adult, she discovered that she had dyslexia.
Cher achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior: she performed
songs for students during the lunch hours and surprised peers when she
wore a midriff-baring top, being the first young woman in her social
circle to do so.[15] She later recalled, "I was never really in school. I was always thinking about when I was grown up and famous."[10]
1960s: Sonny and Cher's rise and fall from pop stardom
At age 16, Cher dropped out of school, left her mother's house, and
moved with a friend into Los Angeles, where she took acting classes and
worked to support herself. She danced in small clubs along Hollywood's Sunset Strip, introducing herself to performers, managers, and agents.[18]
According to biographer Connie Berman, "[Cher] did not hesitate to
approach anyone she thought could help her get a break, make a new
contact, or get an audition."[19] Cher met performer Sonny Bono, 11 years her senior, in November 1962 when he was working for record producer Phil Spector.[19] Cher's friend moved out, and Cher accepted Sonny's offer to be his housekeeper.[20] Sonny introduced Cher to Spector, who used her as a backup singer on many recordings, including the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'".[21] Spector produced her first single, the unsuccessful "Ringo, I Love You", issued under the name Bonnie Jo Mason.[22]
Cher and Sonny became close friends, eventual lovers, and performed
their own wedding ceremony in a hotel room in Tijuana, Mexico, in
October 1964.[21] Although Sonny had wanted to launch Cher as a solo artist, she encouraged him to perform with her because she suffered from stage fright,
and so he began joining her onstage, singing the harmonies. Cher
disguised her nervousness by looking at Sonny; she later commented that
she sang to the people through him.[23] In late 1964, they emerged as a duo called Caesar & Cleo, releasing the poorly received singles "Do You Wanna Dance?", "Love Is Strange" and "Let the Good Times Roll".[24]
Cher signed with Liberty Records' Imperial
imprint in the end of 1964, and Sonny came along as her producer. The
single "Dream Baby", released under the name "Cherilyn", received
airplay in Los Angeles.[22] Encouraged by Imperial, Cher worked with Sonny on her second solo single on the label, a cover version of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do", which peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965.[22] Meanwhile, the Byrds
had released their own version of the same song. When competition on
the singles charts started between Cher and the Byrds, the group's
record label began to promote the B-side of the Byrds' single. Roger McGuinn of the Byrds commented, "We loved the Cher version ... We didn't want to hassle. So we just turned our record over."[25] The namesake album, later described by AllMusic's Tim Sendra as "one of the stronger folk-pop records of the era", reached the Billboard 200 top 20, remaining on the chart for six months.
In early 1965, Caesar and Cleo began calling themselves Sonny & Cher.[27] Following the recording of "I Got You Babe", they traveled to England in July 1965 at the Rolling Stones'
advice; Cher recalled, "[they] had told us ... that Americans just
didn't get us and that if we were going to make it big, we were going to
have to go to England."[28] 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."[29] "I Got You Babe" topped the Billboard
Hot 100 chart and became, according to Allmusic's Bruce Eder, "one of
the biggest-selling and most beloved pop/rock hits of the mid-'60s".[30] As the song knocked the Beatles off the top of the British charts, English teenagers began to emulate Sonny and Cher's fashion style, such as bell-bottoms, striped pants, ruffled shirts, industrial zippers and fur vests.[31] Upon their return to the U.S., the duo made several appearances on the teen-pop showcases Hullabaloo and Shindig! and completed a tour of some of the largest arenas in the U.S.[32]
Their shows attracted Cher look-alikes—"girls who were ironing their
hair straight and dyeing it black, to go with their vests and
bell-bottoms".[33] Cher expanded her creative range by designing a clothing line.[34]
Sonny and Cher's first album, Look at Us, released for the Atco Records division of Atlantic Records, spent eight consecutive weeks at number two on the Billboard 200 in 1965.[35] Their smooth sound and warm harmonies became popular, and the duo successfully competed with the dominant British Invasion and Motown sounds of the era.[34] Several mid-level hits followed, before "The Beat Goes On" returned the duo to the U.S. top ten in 1967.[36] Sonny and Cher charted 11 Billboard top 40 singles between 1965 and 1972, including six top-ten hits.[37] At one point, they had five songs in the top 20, a feat equaled only by Elvis Presley and the Beatles.[38] By the end of 1967, they had sold 40 million records worldwide and had become, according to Time magazine's Ginia Bellafante, rock's "it" couple.[39]
Cher's following releases kept her solo career fully competitive with her work with Sonny.[22] The Sonny Side of Chér (1966) features "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)",
a song with exotic-sounding Gypsy violins and a dramatic vocal
delivery, which reached number two in America and became her first solo
million-seller.[40] Chér, also released in 1966, contains the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition "Alfie", which was added to the credits of the American version of the 1966 film of the same name and became the first stateside version of the popular song. With Love, Chér (1968) includes songs described by biographer Mark Bego as "little soap-opera stories set to rock music" such as the U.S. top-ten hit "You Better Sit Down Kids".
By the end of the 1960s, Sonny and Cher's music had ceased to chart.
According to biographer Connie Berman, "the heavy, loud sound of groups
like Jefferson Airplane and Cream made the folk-rock music of Sonny and Cher seem too bland."[41] Cher later commented, "I loved the new sound of Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton,
the electric-guitar oriented bands. Left to myself, I would have
changed with the times because the music really turned me on. But
Son[ny] didn't like it—and that was that."[42] Their monogamous, anti-drug lifestyle had lost its popular appeal among American youths during the period of the sexual revolution and the rise of the drug culture.[43]
According to biographer Mark Bego, "in spite of their revolutionary
unisex clothes, Sonny and Cher were quite 'square' when it came to sex
and drugs."[44] To recapture their young audience, the duo produced and starred in the film Good Times (1967), in which they are featured in childish skits. The movie was unsuccessful.[41]
Cher's next album, Backstage (1968), in which she runs in diverse musical directions, including Brazilian jazz and anti-war protest settings, was not a success.[45]
In 1969, she was dropped from Imperial Records. Sonny and Cher had been
dropped from Atco; however, the label wanted to sign Cher for a solo
album.[46] 3614 Jackson Highway (1969) was recorded without the guidance of Sonny and incorporates experiments in blue-eyed soul; Allmusic's Mark Deming proclaimed it "the finest album of her career".[47] Displeased with the 3614 Jackson Highway album, Sonny prevented Cher from releasing more recordings for Atco.[46]
Meanwhile, Sonny repeatedly cheated on Cher, and by the end of the 1960s their relationship had begun to unravel. According to People magazine, "[Sonny] tried desperately to win her back, telling her he wanted to marry and start a family."[48] They married after she gave birth to Chastity Bono (who years later became Chaz Bono) on March 4, 1969.[48] That year, the duo spent $500,000 and mortgaged their home to make the film Chastity.
Written and directed by Sonny, who did not appear in the movie, it
tells the story of a young woman, played by Cher, searching for the
meaning of life.[49]
The art film failed, putting the couple $190,000 in debt with back
taxes. However, some critics noted that Cher showed signs of acting
potential.[50]
At the lowest point of their career, the duo put together a nightclub
routine that relied on a more adult approach to sound and style.[51]
According to writer Cintra Wilson, "Their lounge act was so depressing,
people started heckling them. Then Cher started heckling back.
Sonny ... reprimanded her; then she'd heckle Sonny".[29] The heckling became a highlight of the act and made it a success.[29]
Television executives took note, and the couple began making guest
appearances on prime-time shows, in which they presented a "new,
sophisticated, and mature" image.[52] Cher adopted alluring, low-cut gowns that became her signature outfits.[52]
1970s: Television and musical success, solo career
CBS head of programming Fred Silverman offered Sonny and Cher their own television program after he noticed them as guest-hosts on The Merv Griffin Show in 1971.[53] The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
premiered as a summer replacement series on August 1, 1971, and had six
episodes. Because it was a ratings success, the couple returned that
December with a full-time show.[50]
Watched by more than 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour received 12 Emmy Award nominations.[54] Praised for their comedic timing, deadpan Cher mocked Sonny about his looks and short stature.[55]
According to biographer Connie Berman, they "exuded an aura of warmth,
playfulness, and caring that only enhanced their appeal. Viewers were
further enchanted when a young Chastity also appeared on the show. They
seemed like a perfect family."[55] Cher honed her acting skills in sketch comedy roles such as the brash housewife Laverne, the sardonic waitress Rosa, and historical vamps, including Cleopatra and Miss Sadie Thompson.[56] The designer clothing Cher wore were part of the show's attraction, and her style influenced the fashion trends of the 1970s.[57]
In 1971, Sonny and Cher signed with the Kapp Records division of MCA,
and the latter singer released the single "Classified 1A", in which she
sings from the point of view of a soldier who bleeds to death in Vietnam.
Written by Sonny, who felt that her first solo single on the label had
to be poignant and topical, radio station programmers quickly rejected
the song as uncommercial. Since Sonny's first attempts at reviving their
recording career as a duo had also been unsuccessful, Kapp Records
recruited Snuff Garrett to work with them. He produced Cher's first solo number-one single, "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves",
which "proved that ... Garrett knew more about Cher's voice and her
persona as a singer than Sonny did", writes Cher biographer Mark Bego.[58] It became the biggest-selling single in the history of MCA Records then and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.[59] Released in September 1971, the Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves album features cover versions of contemporary hits such as "The Way of Love", a U.S. top-ten single that established Cher's more confident image as a recording artist.[60] In 1972, Cher released the all-ballad set Foxy Lady, demonstrating the evolution of her vocal abilities.[61] That year, Garrett quit as producer after disagreeing with Sonny about the kind of material Cher should record.[62]
At Sonny's insistence, in 1973 Cher released an album of standards called Bittersweet White Light, which was unsuccessful.[63] That year, lyricist Mary Dean brought Garrett "Half-Breed", a song about the daughter of a Cherokee mother and a white father, that she had written especially for Cher.[62]
Although Garrett did not have Cher at the time, he was convinced that
"it's a smash for Cher and for nobody else", so he held the song for
months until he got Cher back.[62] "Half-Breed" was featured on the album of the same name and became Cher's second number-one single. Both the album and the single were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[64] Cher's third number-one single was "Dark Lady", in 1974, from the namesake album.[65] Later that year, she released a Greatest Hits album that, according to Billboard
magazine, proved her to be "one of the most consistent hitmakers of the
past five years", as well as a "proven superstar who always sells
records".[66]
Between 1971 and 1974, Sonny and Cher's career was revived with four
albums released under Kapp Records and MCA Records, including the
top-ten charting singles "All I Ever Need Is You" and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done".[67]
Cher commented on her hectic schedule during this period: "I could do a
whole album ... in three days ... We were on the road ... and we were
doing the Sonny & Cher Show".[68]
By late 1972, Cher's marriage with Sonny was over, but appearances were maintained until 1974.[69] "The public still thinks we are married," Sonny wrote in his diary at the time, "[and] that's the way it has to be."[70] In February 1974, Sonny filed for a separation, citing "irreconcilable differences".[71]
A week later, Cher countered with a divorce suit and charged Sonny with
"involuntary servitude", claiming that he withheld money from her and
deprived her of her rightful share of their earnings.[71] The couple battled in court over finances and the custody of Chastity, which was eventually granted to Cher.[71] Their divorce was finalized on June 26, 1975.[72]
During the divorce proceedings, Cher had a two-year romantic relationship with record executive David Geffen,
who freed her from her business arrangement with Sonny, under which she
was required to work exclusively for Cher Enterprises, the company he
ran.[73] Geffen secured a $2.5 million deal for Cher with Warner Bros. Records and reunited her with Spector to record and release a test single to launch Warner-Spector Records, Spector's Warner specialty label.[74] The resulting 1974 single, "A Woman's Story", and a follow-up duet with Harry Nilsson, "A Love Like Yours", were commercial failures.[75] Both singles received late recognition; DMA magazine described the latter as having "one of the catchiest choral hooks ever recorded".[76]
In 1974, Cher won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.[77] Sonny went on without Cher and renamed the show The Sonny Comedy Revue. It was canceled after six weeks.[78]
Cher returned to television with a solo show on February 16, 1975. Entitled Cher, it began as a highly rated special with guests Flip Wilson, Elton John, and Bette Midler.[79] Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson won Emmy Awards for their guest appearances, and the show received nine more Emmy Award nominations that year.[80]
The show was produced by David Geffen and centered on Cher's songs,
monologues, comedy performance, and her variation of clothing, which was
the largest for a weekly TV show.[81] Early critical reception was favorable; Los Angeles Times
exclaimed 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."[82]
Cher lasted for less than a year, replaced by a Sonny and Cher show;[83] she said, "doing a show alone was more than I could handle."[84] On June 30, 1975, four days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny, Cher married rock musician Gregg Allman, co-founder of The Allman Brothers Band.
She filed for divorce nine days later, citing his heroin and liquor
problems, but they reconciled and remained married until 1979.[85] They had one son, Elijah Blue, on July 10, 1976.[86] Under the rubric "Allman and Woman", they released the 1977 duet album Two the Hard Way, later regarded by History as "the worst of either artist's respective career".[70] Sonny and Cher's TV reunion, The Sonny and Cher Show,
lasted from February 1976 to mid-1977. Although the show was a ratings
success on its premiere, Cher's reportedly extravagant lifestyle, her
troubled relationship with Allman, and Sonny and Cher's insult humour
about their divorce caused a public backlash that eventually contributed
to its failure.[87]
Encouraged by Geffen, Cher began work on her first album for Warner
in 1975. According to biographer Mark Bego, "it was their intention that
[this album] was going to make millions of fans around the world take
her seriously as a rock star, and not just a pop singer."[75] Despite Cher's efforts to develop her musical range by listening to artists such as Stevie Wonder, Elton John, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan, the resulting album, Stars, received negative reviews.[75] Janet Maslin of The Village Voice wrote, "Cher is just no rock and roller ... Image, not music, is Cher Bono's main ingredient for both records and TV."[88] The album has since become a cult classic and is generally considered among her best work.[68] Her next albums, I'd Rather Believe in You (1976) and Cherished (1977), the latter a return to her pop style at Warner's producers insistence, were also unsuccessful.[89] She returned to prime time television with the specials Cher... Special (1978), nominated for three Emmy Awards, and Cher and Other Fantasies (1979).[90]
In 1978, she legally changed her name from Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere
Bono Allman to Cher, to eliminate the use of four surnames.[91]
A single mother with two children, Cher realized that she had to make
a choice about the direction of her singing career. Deciding to
temporarily abandon her desire to be a rock singer, she signed with Casablanca Records and launched a comeback with the single "Take Me Home" and the album of the same name, both of which capitalized on the disco craze.[92] They became instant hits, remained bestsellers for more than half of 1979, and were certified gold by the RIAA.[93] Sales of the album may have been boosted by the image of a scantily clad Cher in a Viking outfit on its cover.[94]
Despite her initial lack of enthusiasm with disco music, she changed
her mind after the success, commenting, "I never thought I would want to
do disco ... [but] it's terrific! It's great music to dance to. I think
that danceable music is what everybody wants."[92] Encouraged by the popularity of Take Me Home, Cher planned to return to rock music in her next album, Prisoner (1979).[95]
The album's cover features Cher draped in chains as a "prisoner of the
press", which caused controversy among feminist groups for her perceived
portrayal of a sex slave.[96] Cher included rock songs, which made the disco release seem unfocused and thus a commercial failure.[97] Prisoner produced the single "Hell on Wheels", featured on the soundtrack of the film Roller Boogie. The song exploits the late 1970s roller-skating fad and contributed to its popularity.[68]
1980s: Hit and misses, film success and return to musical stardom
In 1980, alongside Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder, Cher wrote her last Casablanca disco recording, "Bad Love", for the film Foxes.[98] She formed the rock band Black Rose that year with her then-lover, guitarist Les Dudek.
Although Cher was the lead singer, she did not receive top billing
because she wanted to create the impression that all band members were
equal.[99] Since she was easily recognized when she performed with the band, she developed a punk look
by cutting her hair and dyeing it bright yellow, green, and pink.
Despite appearances on television, the band failed to earn concert
dates.[99] Their album Black Rose received unfavorable reviews; Cher told Rolling Stone
magazine, "The critics panned us, and they didn't attack the record.
They attacked me. It was like, 'How dare Cher sing rock & roll?'"[51] During the band's active period, Cher was also doing a residency show in Las Vegas, earning $300,000 a week.[99] Black Rose later broke up in 1981.[100] That year, she released the UK top-five hit "Dead Ringer for Love", a duet with musician Meat Loaf, later described by Allmusic's Donald A. Guarisco as "one of the more inspired rock duets of the 1980's".[101] In 1982, Columbia Records released the album I Paralyze,
later deemed by biographer Mark Bego as Cher's "strongest and most
consistent solo album in years" despite its disappointing sales.[102]
With decreasing album sales and a lack of successful singles, Cher decided to further develop her acting career.[103] Her earliest entertainment ambitions had been in film, as opposed to music;[16] but she had no films to her credit except the poorly received Good Times and Chastity, and the Hollywood establishment did not take her seriously as an actor.[103] She moved to New York in 1982 to take acting lessons with Lee Strasberg, founder of the Actors Studio, but never enrolled after her plans changed.[29] 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 as a member of a James Dean fan club holding a 20-year reunion. That year, Altman cast her in the film adaptation of the play, which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination.[104]
Cher credits Altman for launching her acting career: "Without Bob
[Robert Altman] I would have never had a film career. Everyone told him
not to cast me ... I am convinced that Bob was the only one who was
brave enough to do it."[105]
Director Mike Nichols, who had seen Cher onstage in Jimmy Dean, offered her the part of Meryl Streep's lesbian roommate and plant co-worker in the controversial film Silkwood.[104]
When it premiered in 1983, audiences questioned Cher's ability as an
actress. She recalls attending a film preview during which the audience
laughed when they saw her name in the credits.[106] For her engaging and nearly flawless performance, Cher was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe Award.[104]
In 1985, Cher formed the film production company Isis.[107] Her next film, Mask (1985), reached number two at the box office and was Cher's first critical and commercial success as a leading actress.[108] For her role as a drug addict biker with a teenage son who has a severe physical deformity, she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.[104] During the making of the film, however, she clashed with director Peter Bogdanovich. She attended the 58th Academy Awards in a tarantula-like costume "to show her scorn for the 'system'", according to authors James Parish and Michael Pitts.[104] The incident garnered her much publicity.[109]
In May 1986, Cher made her first guest appearance on the Late Night with David Letterman show. When asked by Letterman why she had been reluctant to be a guest on his program, she replied that she thought he was an "asshole".[110] In 1987, she returned to the show with Sonny to sing "I Got You Babe" for the first time in ten years.
By 1987, Cher was receiving attention for her Jack LaLanne Health Clubs
commercials and controversial lifestyle, including her tattoos, plastic
surgeries, exhibitionist fashion sense, and affairs with younger men.[112] She dated actors Val Kilmer, Eric Stoltz, and Tom Cruise, hockey player Ron Duguay, film producer Josh Donen, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, and Rob Camilletti, an 18-years-younger bagel baker she met in 1986.[113]
Dubbed "Bagel Boy" by the press, Camilletti made headlines after he was
charged with assault in 1988 for ramming Cher's Ferrari into a
paparazzo's car. The couple broke up the next year.[114]
Cher starred in three films in 1987.[104] In Suspect,
she played a public defender who is both helped and romanced by one of
the jurors in the homicide case she is handling. Along with Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer,
she starred as one of three divorcees involved with a mysterious and
wealthy visitor from hell who comes to a small New England town in the comedy horror The Witches of Eastwick. The film grossed $31.8 million in domestic film rentals. Cher accepted a lead role in Norman Jewison's romantic comedy Moonstruck, which grossed $34.3 million in domestic film rentals.[104] For her performance as an Italian widow in love with her fiancée's younger brother, Cher won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.[115]
Received with a standing ovation during her Oscar acceptance, she said,
"I don't think that this award means that I'm somebody, but maybe I'm
on my way."[38] By 1988, Cher had become one of the most acclaimed and bankable actresses of the decade, commanding $1 million per film.[116] That year, she released the fragrance Uninhibited, which earned about $15 million in its first year sales, and the exercise book Forever Fit, which sold about 100,000 copies in 1988.[117]
In 1987, Cher signed with Geffen Records and revived her musical career with what DMA
magazine describes as "her most impressive string of hits to date",
establishing her as a "serious rock and roller ... a crown that she'd
worked long and hard to capture".[68] Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child, and Richie Sambora produced her first Geffen album, the RIAA-certified platinum Cher.[118] It features the rock ballad "I Found Someone", her first top-ten hit in more than eight years.[68]
Certified triple platinum by the RIAA, Cher's 19th studio album Heart of Stone (1989) has sold 11 million copies worldwide.[119] The music video for the album's first single, "If I Could Turn Back Time", caused controversy due to Cher's performance on a Navy warship, straddling a cannon, and wearing a see-through bodystocking that revealed her tattooed buttocks.[120] Responding to pressure from older viewers, MTV agreed to show the video from 9 pm to 6 am.[121] The song was an international number-one hit and quickly became one of Cher's most successful singles.[68] In 1989, Cher launched the Heart of Stone Tour (also known as The Cher Extravaganza), which continued until 1990.[122] Most critics liked the tour's nostalgic nature and admired Cher's showmanship.[123] Its parent television special Cher at the Mirage was filmed during a concert in Las Vegas.[124]
1990s: Multimedia success, health and professional struggles, high-profile comeback
In her first film in three years, Mermaids
(1990), Cher paid tribute to her own mother in this story about a woman
who moves her two daughters from town to town at the end of a love
affair.[107] She conflicted with the film's first two directors, Lasse Hallström and Frank Oz, who were replaced by Richard Benjamin.[125] Believing Cher would be the star attraction, the producers allowed her creative control for the film.[126] One of the two songs Cher recorded for the film's soundtrack, "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", topped the UK charts for five weeks and reached the top five in most European countries.[127] Cher's final studio album for Geffen Records, Love Hurts (1991), stayed at number one in the UK for six weeks and produced four hit singles, including the UK top-ten hit "Love and Understanding".[128]
In later years, Cher commented that her Geffen label "hit years" had
been especially significant to her, "because I was getting to do songs
that I really loved ... songs that really represented me, and they were
popular!"[68] In 1992, Madame Tussauds wax museum honored her as one of the five most beautiful women of history by creating a life-size statue.[129] That year, she 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.[130] The compilation album Cher's Greatest Hits: 1965–1992, released in Europe, peaked at number one in the UK for seven weeks. It featured three new songs.[131]
Partially due to her experiences filming Mermaids, Cher turned down leading roles in such films as The War of the Roses and Thelma & Louise.[125] According to Berman, "After the success of Moonstruck, she was so worried about her next career move that she was overly cautious."[132] In the early 1990s, she contracted the Epstein–Barr virus and developed chronic fatigue syndrome, which left her too exhausted to sustain her music and film careers.[133] Because she needed to earn money and was not healthy enough to work on other projects, she starred in infomercials launching health, beauty, and diet products, which earned her close to $10 million in fees.[134] The skits were parodied on David Letterman's show and Saturday Night Live and critics considered a sellout, many suggesting her film career was over.[135] She told Ladies' Home Journal,
"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."[136]
Cher made cameo appearances in the Robert Altman films The Player (1992) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994).[137] In late 1994, she started a mail-order catalogue business, Sanctuary, selling Gothic-themed products.[138] She contributed a rock version of "I Got You Babe" to MTV's animated series Beavis and Butt-head.[139] Alongside Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry, and Eric Clapton, she topped the UK charts in 1995 with the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge".[140] Later that year, she signed with Warner Music UK's label WEA 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.[141] In general, critics favored the album and its R&B influences, some saying her voice had improved.[142] Released in Europe at the end of 1995 and in North America, under Reprise Records, in the summer of 1996, It's a Man's World spawned the UK top-ten singles "Walking in Memphis" and "One by One".[141]
In 1996, Cher played the wife of a businessman who hires a hitman to murder her in the Chazz Palminteri-scripted dark comedy film Faithful,
which was poorly received by critics. Despite being praised for her
role, she refused to promote the film, claiming it was "horrible".[143] Cher achieved a comeback when she starred in and made her directing debut with a segment in the abortion-themed anthology If These Walls Could Talk (1996), which drew the highest ratings for an original HBO movie to date.[144] For her role as a doctor murdered by an anti-abortion fanatic, she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film.[145] Cher's music played a large role in the American TV series The X-Files episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus", which aired in November 1997.[146] Written for her, it tells the story of a scientist's grotesque creature who adores Cher because of her role in Mask, in which her character cares for her disfigured son.[147][148]
Following Sonny Bono's death in a skiing accident in 1998, Cher
delivered a moving eulogy at his funeral, calling him "the most
unforgettable character" she had met.[149] She paid tribute to him by hosting the affectionate CBS special Sonny & Me: Cher Remembers, which aired on May 20, 1998.[150] That month, Sonny and Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television.[151] Later that year, Cher published the book The First Time,
a collection of autobiographical essays of "first-time" events in her
life, which critics praised for revealing the singer to be down to earth
and genuine.[152]
Although the manuscript was almost finished when Sonny died, she could
not decide whether to include his death in the book; she feared being
criticized for capitalizing on the event. Cher later told Rolling Stone, "I couldn't ignore it, could I? I might have if I cared more about what people think than what I know is right for me." [153]
Cher's 22nd studio album Believe
(1998) marked a musical departure for her, as it comprises dance-pop
songs, many of which capture the "disco-era essence"; Cher said, 'It's
not that I think this is a '70s album ... but there's a thread, a
consistency running through it that I love.'"[68] Believe was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA and went on to be certified gold or platinum in 39 countries.[154] The album's title track reached number one in more than 25 countries and sold over 11 million copies worldwide.[155] It became the best-selling recording of 1998 and 1999, and Cher's biggest hit to date.[156] "Believe" topped the UK charts for seven weeks and became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK.[157] The song won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.[158]
In January 1999, Cher performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl XXXIII.[159] She sang on the television special VH1 Divas Live 2, which aired in March 1999. According to VH1,
it was the most popular, and most watched program in the television
network's history, as Cher's presence was "a huge part of making it
exactly that."[160] The Do You Believe?
tour ran from 1999 to 2000 and was sold-out in every American city it
was booked in, amassing a global audience of more than 1.5 million.[161] Its companion television special, Cher: Live in Concert - From the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, was the highest rated original HBO program in 1998–99, receiving seven Emmy Award nominations.[162] Later in 1999, Cher released the compilation album The Greatest Hits, reaching the top ten in most European countries.[163] Geffen Records compiled its own If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits, certified gold by the RIAA.[64]
Cher's next film was Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini (1999).[164]
Although it got mixed reviews, she received critical accolades for her
performance as a rich, flamboyant American socialite whose visit to
Italy is not welcome among the Englishwomen; one reviewer from Film Comment
wrote, "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."[165]
2000s: Dance charts, touring success and Vegas residency
Not.com.mercial
(2000) was written mostly by Cher after she had attended a songwriters'
conference in 1994; it marked her first attempt at writing most of the
tracks for an album. As the album was rejected by her record label for
being uncommercial, she chose to sell it only on her website. In the
song "Sisters of Mercy", she calls 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; church leaders quickly issued denouncements.[166][nb 1]
Cher's highly anticipated dance-oriented follow-up to Believe, Living Proof (2001), entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, her highest-charting album debut in the U.S. to date.[169] Tracks from Living Proof became club hits.[170] The album's first American single, "Song for the Lonely", was dedicated to "the courageous people of New York" following the September 11 attacks.[171] The song "Love One Another" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.[172] Cher performed during the benefit concert VH1 Divas Las Vegas in May 2002.[173] In December, she won the Dance/Club Play Artist of the Year Award at the Billboard Music Awards.[174] Her wealth in 2002 was estimated at $600 million.[175]
In June 2002, Cher embarked on the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, announced as the final live concert tour of her career, although she vowed to continue making records and films.[176]
The show highlighted her successes in music, television, and film,
featuring video clips from the 1960s onwards and an elaborate backdrop
and stage set-up.[177] Initially scheduled for 49 shows, the worldwide tour was extended several times.[178] A collection of live tracks taken from the tour was released in 2003 as the album Live! The Farewell Tour.[179] The NBC special Cher - The Farewell Tour (2003) attracted 17 million viewers.[180] It was the highest rated network-TV concert special of 2003 and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special.[181]
After leaving Warner UK in 2002, Cher signed a worldwide deal with the U.S. division of Warner Bros. Records in September 2003.[182] The Very Best of Cher (2003), a greatest-hits collection that surveys her entire career, peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the RIAA.[183] Cher played herself in the Farrelly brothers comedy Stuck on You (2003), mocking her public image as she appears in bed with a much younger boyfriend.[184][nb 2] Her 325-date Farewell Tour ended in April 2005 as the highest-grossing music tour by a female artist then.[186] In 2008, the singer began a three-year, 200-performance residency at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, for which she earned a reported $60 million per year.[37] Cher at the Colosseum featured 16 dancers and aerialists, state-of-the-art video, special effects, and elaborate set designs.[187]
2010s: Return to film, music, and touring
Cher returned to film in the 2010 musical Burlesque,
playing a nightclub impresario whom a young Hollywood hopeful is
looking to impress. One of the two songs she recorded for the film's soundtrack, the Diane Warren-penned power ballad "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[188] In November 2010, Cher received the honor of placing her handprints and footprints in cement in the courtyard in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.[189] She lent her voice to an animated character in the comedy Zookeeper in 2011.[190] Cher produced a documentary about her mother, Georgia Holt, called Dear Mom, Love Cher, which aired on Lifetime in May 2013.[191]
Closer to the Truth, her 25th studio album and the first since 2001's Living Proof, entered the Billboard 200 at number three in September 2013, marking her highest position on that chart to date.[192] In the UK, Closer to the Truth debuted at number four, being her highest-charting studio album there since 1991's number-one Love Hurts.[193] Michael Andor Brodeur from The Boston Globe
commented that "Cher's 'Goddess of Pop' sash remains in little danger
of undue snatching; at 67, she sounds more convincing than J-Lo or Madonna reporting from 'the club'".[194]
She premiered the lead single "Woman's World" on the season four finale of the talent show The Voice, her first live TV performance in over a decade.[191] She later joined the show's season five as judge Blake Shelton's team adviser.[195]
On June 30, 2013, she headlined the annual Dance on the Pier benefit,
celebrating Gay Pride day. It became the event's first sellout in five
years.[196] In November 2013, she appeared as a guest performer and judge on the seventeenth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, during its eighth week, which was dedicated to her.[197] She embarked on her highly successful Dressed to Kill Tour in March 2014.[198]
Upcoming projects
In June 2012, Cher revealed that a Broadway musical based on her life
and music was currently in development. She said that she may play
herself in the show.[199] In April 2014, Cher confirmed that the musical was still in development, stating "I'm reading the new script of it now."[200]
As of June, 2014, the plan is that Cher will star in the show with two
other actresses in the title role: A young performer will portray the
singer during the Sonny and Cher era, the next will follow her solo
career from 1977 through 1999, and Cher herself will play an older but
"wiser" character looking back through the years and giving advice.[201] Film, TV, and theater executive Andy Fickman has signed in to produce the musical.[202]
On May 7, 2014, it was confirmed that Cher collaborated with American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan on two songs of an upcoming album, titled The Wu - Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.[203] Being credited as Bonnie Jo Mason, she uses an alias of hers originated in 1964.
Artistry
Music and voice
Cher has employed various musical styles, including folk, pop, punk rock, arena rock, power ballads, disco, new wave, and hip hop; she said she has done this to "remain relevant and do work that strikes a chord".[206][207] Goldmine
magazine's Phill Marder credited Cher's almost perfect song selection
as what made her a notorious rock singer; while several of her early
hits were penned by or sung with Sonny Bono, most of her solo hits,
which outnumbered Sonny and Cher's successes, were composed by
independent songwriters, selected by Cher.[1] Not.com.mercial (2000), the singer's first album mostly written by herself, presents a "1970s singer-songwriter feel" that proves "Cher adept in the role of storyteller", according to Allmusic's Jose F. Promis.[208]
Some of Cher's early songs discuss subjects rarely addressed in
American popular music such as divorce, prostitution, unplanned and
underaged pregnancy, and racism.[1][22] According to Allmusic's Joe Viglione, the 1972 single "The Way of Love"
is either about a woman expressing her love for another woman, or a
woman 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"). (The song,
written by French composer Jacques (Jack) Dieval with English lyrics by
Al Stillman; had previously been recorded by British singer Kathy Kirby in 1965, and was a minor hit in the US.) Her ability to carry both male and female ranges allowed her to sing solo in androgynous and gender-neutral-themed songs.[209] Her 1967 song, "You Better Sit Down Kids", written and produced by Sonny, casts her in the role of a father trying to explain an impending divorce to his children.
Cher has a distinctive contralto singing voice, described by author Nicholas E. Tawa as "bold, deep, and with a spacious vibrato".[207][210] Ann Powers of The New York Times called it "a quintessential rock voice: impure, quirky, a fine vehicle for projecting personality."[211] First heard in the 1980 record Black Rose, the aggressive, sharp vocals in Cher's hard rock-oriented albums highlighted her sexually confident image.[212][213][214] For the 1995 album It's a Man's World, she restrained her vocals, singing in higher registers and without vibrato.[141][215] The 1998 song "Believe" has an electronic vocal effect proposed by Cher, and was the first commercial recording to feature Auto-Tune—an audio processor originally intended to disguise or correct off-key
inaccuracies in vocal music recordings—as a deliberate creative effect.
After the success of the song, the technique became known as the "Cher
effect" and has since been widely used in popular music.[206][2][216] Cher later used Auto-Tune on the albums Living Proof (2001) and Closer to the Truth (2013).[217][218]
Films, music videos, and performances
According to author Diane Negra, Cher was presented in her early career as a product of male creativity.[219]
In the 1980s, her star image changed due to her "refusal of dependence
on a man and the determination not only to forge a career (as an actor)
on her own terms but to refuse the conventional role assigned to women
over forty years old in an industry that fetishises youth", wrote author
Yvonne Tasker.[220] Her independent woman image was highlighted in film roles where she served as a social intermediary to disenfranchised male characters, such as Eric Stoltz's elephantiasis victim in Mask (1985), Liam Neeson's mute homeless veteran in Suspect (1987), and Nicolas Cage's socially isolated baker with a wooden hand in Moonstruck (1987).[219] Mermaids (1990) makes use of her sexually confident image.[220] Jeff Yarbrough of The Advocate
wrote that Cher was "one of the first superstars to 'play gay' with
compassion and without a hint of stereotyping", as she portrays a
lesbian in the 1983 film Silkwood.[221]
Cher's rebellious star persona also stems from her music videos and
live performances, in which she "repeatedly comments on her own
construction, on her search for perfection and on the performance of the
female body", wrote Tasker.[220] Cher's "Hell on Wheels" was one of the first music videos ever and involves cinematic techniques.[222][223] The video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" was the first banned by MTV.[220]
Unlike other 1980s music video and stage acts who usually feature
female backers who mimic the star's performance, Cher uses a male dancer
dressed as her in the 1992 concert video Cher at the Mirage.[220] Her song "After All"
at that same concert video begins with a biographical montage as well
as posters from her films, "inviting a reading of the song as a
reflection upon Cher's life, and thus putting into circulation a
historical Cher and by extension cinematic, televisual, and popular
music Chers as well", wrote Negra.[224] Billboard's Cary Darling described Cher's live act as "more of a revue than a concert."[225] James Sullivan of San Francisco Chronicle
wrote that "Cher is well aware that her chameleonic glitz set the stage
for the current era of stadium-size razzle-dazzle. She's comfortable
enough to see such imitation as flattery, not theft."[226]
Fashion
Cher emerged as a fashion trendsetter in the 1960s, popularizing the jet black long hair, bell-bottoms, bare midriff, bandanas, and Cherokee-inspired tunics.[227][228] She began working as a model in 1967 for photographer Richard Avedon after then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland discovered her at a party for Jacqueline Kennedy that year. Avedon took the famous photo of Cher in a beaded and feathered nude gown for the cover of Time magazine in 1975.[227] Cher has appeared five times on the cover of Vogue, between 1972 and 1975.[229] 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.[228][230] She was the first woman to expose her navel on television.[228] She has worn wigs since her 1970s TV shows.[3]
In 1972, after she was featured on the annual "Best Dressed Women"
lists, Mackie stated: "There hasn't been a girl like Cher since [Marlene] Dietrich and [Greta] Garbo. She's a high-fashion star who appeals to people of all ages."[231]
In May 1999, after the Council of Fashion Designers of America recognized Cher with an 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".[232] Givhan referenced Tom Ford, Anna Sui and Dolce & Gabbana as "[i]nfluential designers [who] have evoked her name as a source of inspiration and guidance."[232]
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."[232]
Public image
Cher has repeatedly reinvented herself through various personas, for which Professor Richard Aquila from Ball State University called her "the ultimate pop chameleon".[233][234] According to author Lucy O'Brien, "Cher adheres to the American Dream of reinvention of self: 'Getting old does not have to mean getting obsolete.'"[235] Author Craig Crawford
called Cher "a model of flexible career management" and claimed that
her "many and varied career victories" were based on constantly
reshaping her image according to the evolving trends of popular culture.[236]
He stated that she billed "each dramatic turnaround of style as another
example of rebellion—an image that allowed her to make calculated
changes while appearing to be consistent."[236] Cher's 1988 Oscar win, according to biographer Connie Berman, signaled an important change in Hollywood, as she appeared in a negligee outfit, danced onstage and was applauded for her daring.[237]
Cher has attracted media attention for her physical
appearance—particularly her youthful looks and her many tattoos.
Journalists have often called her the "poster girl" of plastic surgery.[238] Grant McCracken, in his book Transformations: Identity Construction in Contemporary Culture,
drew a parallel between Cher's plastic surgeries and the
transformations in her 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."[238] 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' ... 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."[239]
Cher denies most rumors about her plastic surgery, and has stated,
"I've had the same cheeks my entire life. No butt lifts. No ribs
removed."[240]
Cher has six tattoos, including one on her buttock.[241] The Baltimore Sun called her the "Ms. Original Rose Tattoo".[241] She got her first tattoo in 1972.[241]
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."[242] In the late 1990s, she began having laser treatments to remove her tattoos.[243] 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."[244]
Legacy
Cher's contributions to various areas of entertainment such as music, film, television and fashion earned her the nickname "Goddess of Pop".[245][246][247] According to Orange Coast Magazine's
Keith Tuber, Cher's successful television career during the 1970s
"allowed people to see and hear [her] without having to buy [her]
records".[248]
Since then, Cher's music career has been overshadowed by her film
career, although she has continued to record successful albums and
singles.[249] She has received several special awards for her music career, including a World Music Award for her "lifelong contribution to the music industry" and a Billboard Music Award for having "helped redefine popular music through success on the Billboard charts".[174][250] Cher is the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.[5] As of 2008, she has sold 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.[251]
According to Goldmine magazine's Phill Marder, Cher "has been and remains today one of the Rock Era's most dominant figures".[246]
He wrote that as a female rock star, she had set "the standard for
appearance, from her early hippie days to her later outlandish outfits,
and her attitude—the perfect female punk long before punk even was a
rock term."[1]
He asserted that Cher's daring outfits and dominant attitude over her
partner Sonny Bono have influenced the presence of women in rock music,
inspiring contemporary followers Marianne Faithfull and Nancy Sinatra.[1] According to Jeff Miers from The Buffalo News,
"Her music has changed with the times over the decades, rather than
changing those times through groundbreaking work"; however, he felt that
subsequent female singers such as Cyndi Lauper, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga and Madonna,
whom he calls "her generation's Cher", were heavily inspired by Cher's
abilities to combinate "showmanship with deep musicality ... to make
valid statements in a wide variety of trend-driven idioms ... to ease
effortlessly between pop subgenres [and] to shock without alienating her
fans", as well as her charismatic stage presence and the strong LGBT
support among her fan base.[252]
Cher's controversial public persona and "her ability to forge an
immensely successful and lengthy career as a woman in a male-dominated
entertainment world" have drawn attention from feminist critics.[252][253] She was featured in the 16th-anniversary edition of Ms.
magazine as an "authentic feminist hero" and a 1980s role model for
women: "Cher, the straightforward, tattooed, dyslexic single mother, the
first Oscar winner to have entered into matrimony with a known heroin
addict and to have admitted to being a fashion victim by choice, has
finally landed in an era that's not afraid to applaud real women."[254] Stephanie Brush from The New York Times wrote that Cher "performs the function for women moviegoers that Jack Nicholson
has always fulfilled for men. Free of the burden of ever having been
America's sweetheart, she is the one who represents us [women] in our
revenge fantasies, telling all the fatheads ... exactly where they can
go. You need to be more than beautiful to get away with this. You need
to have been Cher for 40 years."[255] In a 2001 poll, A&E's Biography magazine ranked Cher as their third favorite leading actress of all time, behind Audrey Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn.[256] She was featured on the "100 Greatest Movie Stars of our Time" list compiled by People.[257]
Cher has been known for her many career comebacks, which has led The New York Times to declare her as the "Queen of the Comeback".[258][259] Biographer Connie Berman wrote that Cher's transition from a difficult childhood to fame has led her to become an inspiration.[260] Her "integrity" and "perseverance" were highlighted in the Reaching Your Goals book series of illustrated inspirational stories 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."[219]
The reverence the gay community holds for Cher has been attributed to
the accomplishments in her career, her sense of style and her longevity.
Alec Mapa of The Advocate
elaborates: "While the rest of us were sleeping, Cher's been out there
for the last four decades living out every single one of our childhood
fantasies ... Cher embodies an unapologetic freedom and fearlessness
that some of us can only aspire to."[261]
According to Thomas Rogers of Salon magazine, she has often been imitated by drag queens because she "overcame insult and hardship on [her] path to success" and because her story "mirror[s] the pain that many gay men suffer on their way out of the closet".[262] 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."[3]
According to Thomas Rogers of Salon magazine, she has often been imitated by drag queens because she "overcame insult and hardship on [her] path to success" and because her story "mirror[s] the pain that many gay men suffer on their way out of the closet".[262] 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."[3]
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