Cher, the ‘Goddess of Pop,’ is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Grammy Award-winning singer and actress. She dropped out of high school and began a career in music at the age of sixteen, subsequently forming the band ‘Sonny and Cher’ with vocalist Sonny Bono, with whom she later fell in love and married. The husband and wife team originally rose to prominence with the smash single “I’ve Got You Babe,” and their subsequent albums continued to rank at the top. With her albums ‘Believe’ and ‘Living Proof,’ she was able to carve out a successful solo career and achieve considerable fame as a solo artist. She’s also made a name for herself as an actress, starring in the award-winning films ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘Silkwood.’ She also had a great television career, starring in the award-winning variety show “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.” Cher has an estimated net worth of $ 305 million and has established herself as one of the A-list singers in the American music industry. She is known as the “World’s Number One Pop Icon.” Continue reading this Cher biography to get more fascinating facts about her.
Childhood and Adolescence
Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, to truck driver John Sarkisian and actress and model Jackie Jean Crouch. When she was ten months old, her parents split.
She went to the exclusive Montclair Prep school in Encino, Los Angeles, where she excelled in both French and English. During the lunch hour at school, she would perform songs for her classmates.
She traveled to Los Angeles with a friend at the age of 16 and enrolled in acting school while working as a dancer in clubs to supplement her income.
She met musician Sonny Bono in 1962, and he introduced her to record producer Phil Spector, who hired her as a backup singer and recorded her debut hit, “Ringo, I Love You.”
Career
She formed the group ‘Caesar & Cleo’ with Sonny Bono in 1964. The singles ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’, ‘Love Is Strange,’ and ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ were released.
She signed a contract with ‘Liberty Records’ Imperial’ in the late 1960s, and the company issued her solo song, ‘Dream Baby.’ The song was a regional hit, receiving airplay in Los Angeles.
Her debut solo album, ‘All I Really Want to Do,’ was released on October 16, 1965. Her husband, Sonny Bono, produced the album, which got good reviews.
They recorded the smash song ‘I Got You Babe’ in 1965, after changing their name from ‘Caesar & Cleo’ to ‘Sonny& Cher.’ In the same year, they released their debut studio album, ‘Look at Us.’
Her second album, ‘The Sonny Side of Ch r,’ was released in April 1966 on the Imperial Records label and was one of her most popular records. The hit song “The Girl from Ipanema” is from the album “Where Do You Go.”
Imperial Records published her third album, titled ‘Cher,’ in October 1966. The singles ‘Alfie’ and ‘I Feel Something in The Air’ from the album were major successes.
‘With Love, Ch r,’ her fourth album, was released in 1967. The record was a commercial triumph, and she released her fifth album, ‘Backstage,’ the following year, which was a commercial failure.
Her sixth album, ‘3614 Jackson Highway,’ was also a commercial flop when it was released in 1969. In the same year, she starred in the failed film ‘Chastity,’ which accomplished little for her career.
‘Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,’ her seventh studio album, was released in 1971. She starred in the variety show ‘The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour’ that year.
‘Foxy Lady,’ ‘Bittersweet White Light,’ ‘Half-Breed,’ ‘Dark Lady,’ ‘Stars,’ ‘I’d Rather Believe in You,’ ‘Cherished,’ ‘Take Me Home,’ and ‘Prisoner’ were among her albums produced in the 1970s.
Her albums ‘I Paralyze,’ ‘Cher,’ and ‘Heart of Stone’ were released in the 1980s. She appeared in the films ‘Silkwood,’ ‘Mask,’ ‘Suspect,’ ‘The Witches of Eastwick,’ and ‘Moonstruck,’ among others.
She starred in the films “Mermaids,” “Faithful,” and “If These Walls Could Talk” in the 1990s, and recorded the albums “Love Hurts,” “It’s a Man’s World,” and “Believe.”
She launched the album ‘not.com.mercial’ in 2000, and one of her best-selling albums, ‘Living Proof,’ was published in Europe the following year.
She released the single ‘Woman’s World’ in June 2013, which is from her upcoming album ‘Closer to the Truth,’ which will be released in September 2013.
Major Projects
‘All I Really Want to Do,’ one of her most popular and successful albums, reached at number 16 on the ‘Billboard 200,’ and the album’s title tune was her first solo hit, charting in Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
‘I Got You Babe,’ one of Sonny & Cher’s hit singles, spent three weeks at the top of the ‘Billboard Hot 100.’ It is one of their best-selling albums, having sold one million copies in the United States and ranking 444 on the ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ list published by ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine.
Achievements & Awards
For the TV show ‘The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,’ she won a Golden Globe in the category of ‘Best TV Actress – Musical/Comedy’ in 1974. For the film ‘Silkwood,’ she won the Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture’ in 1984.
For the film ‘Moonstruck,’ she won an Academy Award in the category of ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ in 1988. She also won a Golden Globe for the same picture that year.
For ‘Believe,’ she won a Grammy Award in the category of ‘Best Dance Recording’ in 2000.
Personal History and Legacy
In a hotel room in Tijuana, Mexico, she married Sonny Bono in secret in 1964. They were married and had a child together.
She married Gregg Allman on June 30, 1975, after divorcing her previous husband. They had a child together. In 1979, the marriage terminated in divorce.
Trivia
This award-winning American actress and singer was the first in her class to wear clothes that exposed her midriff.