Cher is an icon, and this is why
Cher could have been Cleo…?
Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian on 20 May 1946, but she’s had plenty of different names.
She went by the stage name Bonnie Jo Mason when she released her first solo single in 1964.
The burgeoning diva also took on her mother’s name, Georgia Holt. When she met Sonny, they experimented with calling themselves Caesar & Cleo.
Cher…the background singer
Be My Baby is one of the most played songs of all time. It’s been on radio and TV more than 3.9 million times.
What you might not know is the Ronettes had a back-up singer by the name of Cherilyn.
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was as popular as Game of Thrones is today
This variety show, airing in the 70s, was a phenomenon.
After network executives saw the duo’s chemistry on The Merv Griffin Show, they decided to give them their own TV program.
It drew 30 million weekly viewers, something only matched by something like Game of Thrones today.
Thelma & Louise could have been very different
Cher turned down the part of Thelma in Thelma & Louise.
She wanted, instead, to appear in the 1990 film Mermaids.
The powerful celeb had so much power on the set of Mermaids, she allegedly got the director replaced – twice.
Also, her daughter in the film Charlotte was initially cast with Emily Lloyd. When the diva made a complaint that she couldn’t play her daughter because she was too fair-haired and Winona Ryder replaced her.
This was a little ironic considering all of her real life children are blond/fair.
Spending time in an orphanage
Cher was forced to spend many weeks in an orphanage as a child.
She remembered having to keep her shoes together rubber bands. The two moved all over the country.
But eventually, she started her career along with her little sister as an extra on TV shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
It was Sonny that was the uncool one
In The First Time, Cher’s book, she says she saw tastes moving towards heavier rock music.
However, her husband Sonny insisted they keep their clean-cut image and sound.
It didn’t go well for them, and they lost a lot of their huge fanbase.
Cher and Meryl Streep fought off a mugger in New York City
Cher and Meryl Streep are about to star in Mamma Mia 2, but they go way back.
One time in New York City, the two superstar icons fought off a mugger who was attacking a young girl.
‘Someone else was being abused and I just went completely nuts and went after this man,’ Streep said.
‘Ask Cher — she was there. And the thug ran away, it was a miracle.’
Cher’s house is so big, she has rooms she doesn’t know about
We know the mansions in Los Angeles are big. But did you know Cher once lived in a house that sold recently for $180 million?
It was so big, you couldn’t possibly have enough stuff to fit in it.
The Dark Lady herself found this out.
‘The day I moved out of my house in Holmby Hills,’ she told US Weekly, ‘I found a room I never knew existed.’
Cher could get her EGOT this year
Cher is one Tony award away from completing the EGOT.
A musical based on her life has been confirmed for a Broadway run in the fall.
This eponymous diva won an Oscar in 1988 for Moonstruck, a Grammy in 2000 for Believe, and an Emmy for variety special The Farewell Tour.
The Cher Show will be at the Neil Simon Theater. She won’t be acting, sadly, but she’ll be producing which makes her eligible.
She helped pioneer modern music
Believe made history for a lot of reasons. It meant she was the oldest woman to have a number song at the age of 52.
It also marked the longest span between number one songs for any artist. Dark Lady hit the top spot in 1974 and Believe hit the same milestone in 1999.
But also it pioneered the use of auto-tune in music. While controversial at the time, it changed modern music as we see today.
Cher is the only artist to have a number one song for six consecutive decades
In 2011, Cher became the only artist in history to have a number one song on a Billboard chart for six consecutive decades.
She topped the Hot 100 in the 60s, 70s and 90s, the Adult Contemporary chart in the 80s, and the Dance/Club Play Songs chart in the 2000s and 2010s.
Closer to the Truth, her last album, was also her highest-charting solo album ever.
What an icon.
