Cher

At 77 years old, Cher has this physical status:

Cherilyn Sarkisian (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) is an American singer, actress, and television presenter.

She has been described as embodying female identity in a male-dominated industry and is commonly referred to in the media as the Goddess of Pop.

Cher is best known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in a variety of fields of entertainment as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances throughout her six-decade career. Cher first appeared on the American and British charts in 1965 as one half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cherry's "I Got You Babe" rose to the top of the charts.

According to Time magazine, they had sold 40 million records worldwide by the end of 1967 and had become the rock's "it" couple.

"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), her first million-seller album, began her solo career in 1966.

Cher became a television star in the 1970s with her show The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which drew over 30 million viewers per week during its three-year tenure, and Cher.

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Life and career

Cherilyn Sarkisian was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. Her father, John Sarkisian, suffered with heroin and gambling addictions, and her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch), is a former model and retired actress who claims to have Irish, English, German, and Cherokee roots; her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch), claims Irish, English, German, and Cherokee ancestry. Cher's father was never home as an infant, and her parents divorced when Cher was ten months old. Georganne, Cher's half-sister, married actor John Southall, who later married him.

Cher's mother, who now lives in Los Angeles, began acting as a waitress while working as a waitress. She renamed Georgia Holt and appeared in minor roles in films and television. Holt has also gained acting roles for her children as extras on television shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Cher's mother's relationship with Southall ended when she was nine years old, but she considers him her father and recalls him as a "good-natured man who became belligerent when he drank too much." Holt returned to her family and divorced several times, and she moved her family around the country (including New York, Texas, and California). They often had no money, and Cher told her how they had to use rubber bands to hold their shoes together. Cher's mother had been leaving Cher at an orphanage for many weeks at one point. Despite the fact that they met every day, both found the experience terrifying.

Cher was in fifth grade when she gave a performance of the musical Oklahoma! She teacher and classmate have a mutual appreciation. She led and choreographed a group of girls, directing and choreographing their dance routines. She played the male roles and performed their songs, inability to convince boys to participate. She had an unusually low voice by age nine. Cher's role model, Audrey Hepburn, was particularly intrigued by film actors' participation in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Cher began to copy Hepburn's eccentric clothing and behaviour. Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, and Katharine Hepburn were all inspired, and she was also inspired by Margaret Griffith, Bette Davis, and Katharine Hepburn. She was dissatisfied with the absence of dark-haired Hollywood actresses who she could imitate. She had aspired to be famous since childhood but decided she was unattractive and untalented later on, "I couldn't imagine anything that I could do." I didn't expect that I'd be a singer or dancer. Well, I'll be famous, I suppose. That was my aim."

Holt married bank manager Gilbert LaPiere, who adopted Cher (under the name Cheryl LaPiere) and Georganne), and enrolled them at Montclair College Preparatory School, a private school in Encino, whose students were mainly from wealthy families. Cher's upper-class environment was a challenge; biographer Connie Berman wrote, "She [standout] stood out from the rest of the others in both her striking appearance and outgoing demeanor." "I'll never forget seeing Cher for the first time," a former classmate said. She was so unique... She looked like a movie actress right then and there.... She said she'd be a film actress and we knew she would." Despite not being a good student, Cher was incredibly thoughtful and innovative, according to Berman. She received high marks in French and English classes, and she excelled in French and English classes. She discovered dyslexia as an adult. Cher's unusual behavior stood out: she performed songs for students during lunchtime and stunned peers when she wore a midriff-baring top. "I was never really in school," she later remembered. I was always wondering when I was growing up and famous."

Cher dropped out of school, left her mother's house, and moved to Los Angeles with a friend. She took acting lessons and worked to support herself, performing in tiny clubs along Hollywood's Sunset Strip and introducing herself to actors, managers, and agents. "Cher] did not hesitate to approach anyone she felt might have aided her in getting a break, made a new contact, or even get an audition," Berman said. Sonny Bono appeared on television in November 1962, when he was working for recording company Phil Spector. Cher's companion moved out, and Sonny accepted Sonny's offer to be his housekeeper. Cher was introduced by Sonny, who performed on many albums, including the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Spector released "Ringo, I Love You," Cher's first single under the name Bonnie Jo Mason. Many radio stations' programmers believed Cher's deep contralto vocals were a man's voice; therefore, they believed it was a male homosexual performing a love song dedicated to the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

On October 27, 1964, Cher and Sonny became close friends, potential lovers, and held their own unofficial wedding reception in a hotel room in Tijuana, Mexico. Although Sonny wanted to debut Cher as a solo artist, she encouraged him to perform with her because she had trouble with stage fright, and he began singing the harmonies onstage. Cher played down her anxiety by admiring Sonny; she later said she sang to the people through him. They formed Caesar & Cleo in late 1964, releasing the poorly received singles "Do You Want to Dance?" "Love Is Strange" and "Let the Good Times Roll" are two of the writer's "Love Is Strange" and "Let the Good Times Roll."

Cher joined Liberty Records' Imperial imprint in 1964, and Sonny became her producer. In Los Angeles, the single "Dream Baby," released under the name "Cherilyn," received airplay. Cher was invited to perform with Sonny on her second solo album for the label, a bare-Son's "All I Really Want to Do" by Bob Dylan. In 1965, it ranked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the meantime, the Byrds had released their own version of the same song. Cher and the Byrds' singles charts were to begin as a group's record label began to promote the Byrds' single on the B-side. "We loved the Cher version... We didn't want to hassle," Roger McGuinn of the Byrds said. We just turned our record over." All I Really Want to Do (1965), Cher's debut album, debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200; Tim Sendra of AllMusic later described it as "one of the finest folk-pop albums of the period" on the BBC.

Sonny and Cher, a group of Caesar and Cleo, were born in early 1965. Following the success of "I Got You Babe," they travelled to England in July 1965; Cher recalls, "They" had warned us that Americans didn't know us and that if we were going to make it big, we'd have to go to England." "English newspaper photographers turned up as S&C were thrown out of the London Hilton [because of their outfits] the night they arrived—literally overnight, they were stars," writer Cintra Wilson said. The heretofore-unseen S&C look, which was neither mod nor rocker, caused London to go gaga.

"I Got You Babe" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming "one of the most popular and most popular pop/rock hits of the mid-'60s," Rolling Stone's Bruce Eder named it one of the "Top Songs of All Time" in 2003; Rolling Stone named it as one of "The Top Songs of All Time"; As the song stifled the Beatles off the top of the British charts, English teenagers began to imitate Sonny and Cher's fashion style, including bell-bottoms, striped pants, ruffled shirts, industrial zippers, and fur vests. The pair made numerous appearances on the teen-pop showcases Hullabaloo and Shindig, during their return to the United States. and spent a tour of some of the country's biggest stadiums. Their performances attracted Cher look-alikes, "girls who were ironing their hair straight and dyeing it black," they said, as opposed to their vests and bellbottoms." Cher expanded her creative reach by creating a clothing line.

Look at Us (1965), Sonny and Cher's first album and released on Atlantic Records' Atco Records division, spent eight weeks at number two on the Billboard 200, behind the Beatles' Help! Their songs became well-known, and the pair successfully competed with the dominant British Invasion and Motown sounds of the day. Sonny and Cher are "one of the leading exponents of the rock-message style of music," author Joseph Murrells characterized them as "a hybrid combining the best and instrumentation of rock music with folk lyric and often lyrics of protest." "I Got You Babe," "Baby Don't Go," "All I Ever Want Is You," and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" were among Sonny and Cher's top-ten hits from 1965 to 1972, with five of them on the top ten, including five top-ten singles: "I Got You Babe," "The Beat Goes On," "All I Ever Need Is You" and "A Cowboy's Work I Was Never Don's At one point, they had five songs in the top 50 at the same time, a feat that only the Beatles and Elvis Presley could do. They've sold 40 million records around the world and have made a name for themselves, according to Time magazine's Ginia Bellafante, a rock's "it" couple.

Cher's Sonny debut made her solo career largely competitive, as well as her appearances. "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," her first million-seller solo single, is included in the Sonny Side of Chér (1966). Chér was also released in 1966 and was the first stateside version of the popular song. The Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition "Alfie" was included in the credits of the American version of the 1966 film of the same name and became the first stateside version of the popular song. Love, Chér (1967) contains songs referred to as "little soap opera stories set to rock music," including "You Better Sit Down Kids," a top-ten hit from the United States.

Sonny and Cher's music had fallen off the charts by the 1960s by the time. "The heavy, blaring sounds of groups like Jefferson Airplane and Cream made Sonny and Cher's folk-rock songs seem too dull," Berman writes. "I loved the new sound of Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the electric-guitar oriented bands," Cher later said. I would have changed with the times if I had been left alone, because the music had brought me right on. But [Sonny] didn't like it [so it was that]" Their monogamous lifestyle during the sexual revolution and the anti-drug role they adopted at the time of the drug culture stifled their success among American youths. "In spite of their revolutionary unisex clothes, Sonny and Cher were very'square' when it came to sex and opioids," Bego said. The pair produced and starred in the film Good Times (1967), which was commercially unsuccessful, in an effort to recapture their young audience.

Backstage (1968), Cher's new album, in which she explores a variety of musical genres, including Brazilian jazz and anti-war protest settings, was not a commercial success. When Sonny and Cher were suspended from Atco in 1969, she was dropped from Imperial Records, but the label wanted to sign Cher for a solo album. Sonny's experiment in rhythm, blues, and soul music culminated in 3614 Jackson Highway (1969), which was not recorded. Mark Deming of AllMusic said it was "arguably the finest album of her career" and was also "a revelation" decades later. Sonny Boyden, who is dissatisfied with the 3614 Jackson Highway album, has banned Cher from releasing any more tracks for Atco.

In the meantime, Sonny dated others, and their marriage by the 1960s had begun to unravel. "[Sonny] tried desperately to regain her love by yelling her that he wanted to marry and start a family," People magazine reports. After she gave birth to Chaz Bono on March 4, 1969, they officially married.

To make the film Chastity (1969), the pair invested $500,000 and mortgaged their house. It was written and produced by Sonny, who did not appear in the film, and it tells the tale of a young woman played by Cher as she searches for the meaning of life. The art film struggled financially, leaving the couple $190,000 in debt with back taxes. However, some commentators observed that Cher might be a natural performer; Cue magazine wrote, "Cher has a marvelous ability that often makes you forget the lines you are hearing."

The pair assembled a nightclub set up a more mature approach to sound and style at their lowest point in their careers. "They lounge act was so sad, people started heckling them," writer Cintra Wilson said. Cher was back to the beginning of hell. Sonny was reprimanded, and then she'd heckle Sonny," she'd say. The hecklers made the performance a hit and attracted viewers. Television executives took note, and the couple began appearing on prime-time shows, where they displayed a "new, sophisticated, and mature" image. Cher's signature style was a longlined, low-cut gown.

After he noticed them as guest-hosts on The Merv Griffin Show in 1971, CBS head of programming Fred Silverman gave them their own television station. On August 1, 1971, Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour premiered as a summer replacement program and had six episodes. The couple returned in December with a full-time show because it had been a ratings hit.

During its three-year existence, more than 30 million viewers per week were applauded for the comedic timing, while deadpan Cher mocked Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, while Sonny & Cher joked about his appearances and short stature. They "exuded a sense of warmth, playfulness, and concern that only enhanced their appeal," Berman says. When a young [Chaz] appeared on the show, viewers were even more enchanted. They seemed to be a perfect family." Cher honed her acting skills in sketch comedy roles such as the brash waitress Rosa, as the sardonic waitress Rosa, and historical vamps, including Cleopatra and Miss Sadie Thompson. Cher's style influenced 1970s fashion trends, and she wore Bob Mackie-designed clothing.

Sonny and Cher joined MCA Records' Kapp Records division in 1971, and Cher released the single "Classified 1A," in which she sings from the perspective of a soldier who bleeds to death in Vietnam. Sonny, who felt that her first solo single on the label had to be poignant and topical, was uncommercialized by radio station programmers.

Kapp Records had recruited Snuff Garrett to help with Sonny's first attempts at resurrecting their recording career as a duo. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," Cher's second US number-one single, "Proved that... Garrett knew more about Cher's voice and her persona as a musician than Sonny," writes Bego. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" was the first solo artist to debut on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the same time as on the Canadian Singles Chart. It was dubbed "one of the twentieth century's greatest songs" by Billboard. It was included on the 1971 album Chér (eventually reissued under the name Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves), which was rated gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "The Way of Love," Cher's second album, debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, establishing Cher's more popular image as a recording artist.

According to Bego, Cher introduced the all-ballad set Foxy Lady in 1972, demonstrating the change of her vocal abilities. Garrett resigned as producer after disagreeing with Sonny about the kind of information Cher should record following the album's release. Cher's 1973 debut of Bittersweet White Light, which was commercially ineffective, was at Sonny's insistence. Mary Dean, a lyricist, brought Garrett "Half-Breed," a song about a Cherokee mother and a white father, which she had written especially for Cher during her year. Although Garrett did not have Cher as a client at the time, he was convinced that "it's a smash for Cher and for everybody else," so he held the show for months before he got Cher back. "Half-Breed" was included on Cher's album of the same name, becoming Cher's third top-one single on the charts. Both the album and the single were certified gold by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIAA).

Cher's album "Dark Lady" became the lead single from the namesake album in 1974. It rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cher's fourth top-one single and making her the female artist with the most top-one singles in the United States at the time. According to Billboard magazine, she released a Greatest Hits album in 2015, proving her to be "one of the most consistent hitmakers of the past five years" as well as a "proven superstar" who still sells songs.

Sonny and Cher's recording career flourished between 1971 and 1973, with four albums released under Kapp Records and MCA Records: Sonny & Chery (1972), All I Ever Wanted Is You (1972), and Live in Las Vegas Vol. 2 (1973), a historian who lived in the United States. "I could do a whole album in three days... and we were doing the Sonny & Cher Show," Cher later reported on this period.

Cher and Sonny had marital issues since late 1972, but appearances were not maintained until 1974. "The average person still thinks we are married," Sonny wrote in his diary at the time, "and] that's the way it has to be." Sonny requested a divorce in February 1974, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason. Cher argued he was charged with "involtive servitude" a week later, arguing that he withheld money from her and deprived her of her rightful share of their income. The two families fought in court over money and Chaz's custody, which was later transferred to Cher. They divorced on June 26, 1975, the first time.

Cher was named Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in 1974. Sonny premiered The Sonny Comedy Revue, an ABC program that partnered the design team behind the Sonny and Cher show in the same year. After 13 weeks, it was cancelled.

Cher had a two-year romantic relationship with record executive David Geffen, who released her from her company deal with Sonny, under which she was required to work exclusively for Cher Enterprises, the company she was in charge of. Geffen signed Cher with Warner Bros. Records, and she began working on her first album under the label in 1975. "They wanted [this album] to be embraced by millions of viewers around the world, not just a pop star," Bego says.

Despite Cher's attempts to expand her musical palette by listening to artists like Stevie Wonder, Elton John, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan, the album Stars was commercially and critically dissatisfied. "Cher is just no rock and roller," Janet Maslin of The Village Voice wrote. Cher Bono's main ingredient for both records and television is image, not music. The album has since become a cult classic and is generally considered to be some of her best work.

Cher returned to television on February 16, 1975, as the first female appearance on CBS. It began as a highly rated special with guests Flip Wilson, Elton John, and Bette Midler. The series, produced by Geffen, was centered on Cher's songs, monologues, comedy appearance, and her various of clothing, which was the most popular for a weekly television show. Early critical reception was encouraging; the Los Angeles Times announced that "Sonny without Cher was a tragedy." On the other hand, Cher without Sonny may be the best thing that's happened to weekly television this season." Cher lasted less than a year before being revived with ex-husband Sonny in a new exhibit in which she reunited with her ex-husband Sonny; "doing a show alone was more than I could handle," she said. "Cher" found the network censors to be more alert than they were when she was married to Sonny, according to Lindsay Zoladz of The Ringer. Cher either single or casually dating, she always appeared to be more of a threat to the status quo than she did when she was Sonny's wife."

Cher married Sonny Allman, co-founder of The Allman Brothers Band, on June 30, 1975, four days after deciding her divorce from Sonny. She filed for divorce nine days later due to her heroin and alcohol use, but the two men reconciled within a month. On July 10, 1976, they had one son, Elijah Blue, born. The Sonny and Cher Show, Sonny and Cher's first television appearance of a divorced couple, debuted on CBS in February 1976—the first time a divorced couple appeared on television. Although the program was a ratings hit on its premiere, Cher and Sonny's derogatory onscreen banter regarding their divorce, her apparently luxurious lifestyle, and her strained friendship with Allman culminated in the show's cancellation in 1977.

Mego Toys introduced a line of toys and dolls based on the likeness of Sonny and Cherish, which coincided with the success of the Sonny and Cher Show in 1976. Cher's miniature version of Barbie became the country's top-selling doll, outsold Barbie.

Cher's next two albums, I'd Rather Believe in You (1976) and Cherished (1977), both a revival of her pop style at Warner's insistence, were commercially unprofitable; Keith Tuber of Orange Coast magazine said, "A weekly television series could spell doom for a recording artist." People were able to see and hear these artists on television without having to buy their music, as opposed to Cher[.] She appeared on "Allman and Woman" alongside Allman on the duet album Two the Hard Way in 1977. Following the album's release, their union came to an end, and in 1979, their divorce was announced. She had a two-year live-in relationship with Kiss member Gene Simmons beginning in 1978. Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere Bono Allman to Cherryn La Piere Bono Allman changed her name to Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere Bono Allman last year in order to avoid the use of four surnames. She made her return to prime time television with the ABC's Cher... Special (1978), celebrating a 15-minute segment in which she appears in all of her West Side Stories — and Cher... And Other Fantasies (1979).

Cher, a single mother with two children, understood that she had to make a decision about her singing career. She signed to Casablanca Records and began a comeback with the single "Take Me Home" and the album of the same name, both of which capitalized on the disco craze. Both the album and single were instant hits, remained bestsellers for more than half of 1979, and the RIAA has rated them as gold. The album may have been boosted by the photo of a scantily clad Cher wearing a Viking costume on its front page. Despite her initial enthusiasm for disco music, she changed her mind after the success, saying, "I never thought I would want to do disco [but] it's fantastic!" It's great music to dance to. I think everybody needs danceable music."

Cheri, inspired by the success of Take Me Home, wants to return to rock music in her forthcoming album, Prisoner (1979). Cher is depicted as a "prisoner of the press" on the album's cover, causing controversies among feminist organisations for her ostensible portrayal of a sex slave. She also included rock songs, which made the albumo release seem unfocused and resulted in its commercial loss. "Hell on Wheels" by a prisoner, which appeared on the soundtrack of the film Roller Boogie. The song owes to its success that it capitalized on the late 1970s roller-skating craze.

Cher wrote her last Casablanca disco recording, "Bad Love," with Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder in 1980. Les Dudek, she's now 15, formed the Black Rose, the rock band formed in the United States. Although Cher was the lead singer, she did not receive top billing because she wanted to make the appearance that all band members were equal. Since she was immediately identified when she appeared with the band, she gave off a punkish appearance by cutting her trademark long hair. Despite television appearances, the band was unable to gain concert dates. Black Rose's album was given unfavorable reviews; Cher told Rolling Stone, "The critics condemned us, but they didn't attack the album." They assaulted me. It was like, "How dare Cher sing rock & roll?"

In 1981, Black Rose was disbanded. Cher was performing a residency show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, earning $300,000 a week during Black Rose's active season. Cher in Concert, the three-year residency that opened in June 1979 and then became Cher's first world concert tour as a solo artist, with additional dates in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia. It culminated in two television specials: Cher in Concert (1981) and Cher... A Celebration at Caesars (1983), the latter of which received the CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Variety Program for Cher (1981).

Cher released "Dead Ringer for Love," a duet with singer Meat Loaf, that debuted on the UK Singles Chart in 1981 and was later described by AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco as "one of the 1980s' most inspired rock duets." Columbia Records released the album I Paralyze in 1982, which later was dubbed Cher's "most consistent solo album in years" by Bego, despite low sales.

Cher wanted to continue acting as a result of decreasing album sales and the absence of commercially profitable singles. Though she had hoped to go film, she had only the critically and commercially poor movies Good Times and Chastity to her credit, and the Hollywood studio did not recognize her as an actress. "I was making a thriving on the road, but I was dying inside," Cher later remembered. Everyone kept saying, 'Cher, there are people who would give anything to have standing room only at Caesars Palace.' ' It would be the pinnacle of their careers' careers,' he says.' "Yes, I should be content," I kept saying. "I wasn't satisfied," says the author. She moved to New York in 1982 to attend acting lessons with Lee Strasberg, the art director of the Actors Studio, but she didn't enroll after her plans changed. Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, a 20-year veteran of a James Dean fan club, was auditioned for and was contracted by director Robert Altman for the Broadway stage production Come Back to the 5 & Dime. In the same year, Altman appeared again in the film version of the same title.

In the film Silkwood, director Mike Nichols, who had seen Cher onstage, offered her the role of Dolly Pelliker, a plant coworker and Meryl Streep's lesbian roommate. Audiences questioned Cher's ability as an actress when it first appeared in 1983. She recalls attending a film preview during which the audience booed her name in the credits. Cher received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress and received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

Cher formed Isis, a film production company, in 1985. Mask (1985), Cher's first commercial and commercial success as a leading actress, debuted at number two at the box office. She was nominated for her role as a heroin addict biker with a teenage son who has a significant physical impairment. During the film's production, however, she clashed with director Peter Bogdanovich and was eventually dropped from the Oscar nomination list. Cher wore a tarantula-like costume to the Academy Awards in a tarantula-like costume, which was later identified by Vanity Fair's Esther Zuckerman as Cher's "Oscar revenge dress." "I did get my Academy textbook on how to act like a serious actor," Cher said before presenting the nominees for Best Supporting Actor. The incident gained her a lot of attention.

Cher's appearance on talk show Late Night with David Letterman in May 1986 attracted a lot of media attention; Letterman later said, "It did hurt my feelings." Cher was one of the few people I've ever wanted to see on the show. I felt like a complete fool, particularly because I'd say I said all sorts of stuff to people." She returned to the stage in 1987, reuniting with Sonny for the final time before his death to perform an improved version of "I Got You Babe." "They weren't exactly the best of friends at the time," Rolling Stone's Andy Greene said, but both of them knew it would make for memorable television. This would have gone viral by the next morning if YouTube existed back then. In 2015, Rolling Stone listed the results as one of "David Letterman's Top ten Musical Moments" on "David Letterman's Top 10 Musical Moments."

Cher appeared in three films in 1987. She played Suspect, a public defender who is both helped and romained by one of the jurors in the murder lawsuit she is prosecuting. She appeared alongside Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer in the comedy comedy The Witches of Eastwick as one of three divorcees from hell for a small New England town. She appeared in Norman Jewison's rompitude Moonstruck as an Italian widow in love with her fiancé's younger brother. The two new films, which were ranked at number ten and five, respectively, were ranked among the top ten highest-grossing films of 1987.

"Mountain" was the New York Times' Janet Maslin's ode to "more confirmation" that Cher has devolved into a "larger-than-life movie actress" who enjoys watching whatever she does. Cher received the Academy Award for Best Actress and Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for the film. Cher had become one of the decade's best bankable actresses by 1988, grossing $1 million per film. Uninhibited, the fragrance's first year, was launched in that year.

Cher signed with Geffen Records in 1987 and revived her musical career with what music critics Johnny Danza and Dean Ferguson refer to as "her most memorable hits to date," establishing her as a "serious rock and roller... a crown that she had struggled to capture." Cher, Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child, and Richie Sambora were among Geffen's first Geffen albums. Despite heavy demand for retail and radio airplay upon its debut, the album was a commercial success, with the RIAA's certification as platinum. Cher's first top ten single in more than eight years features Cher's rock ballad "I Found Someone."

Cher was already being praised for her clumsy, plastic surgery, exhibitionist fashion sense, and dealing with younger men by the 1980s. She had romantic interests with actresses Val Kilmer, Eric Stoltz, and Tom Cruise, hockey player Ron Dumont, Bokjovi, and Rob Camilletti, a Bagel baker aged 18-years, from 1986 to 1989, as well as actor Rob Camilletti.

The RIAA has rated Cher's 19th studio album Heart of Stone (1989) as triple platinum. "If I Could Turn Back Time," Cher's live broadcast on the battleship USS Missouri, straddling a cannon and sporting a leather thong that revealed her tattooed buttocks, sparked controversy. The song dominated the Australian charts for seven weeks, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number three, and became one of Cher's most popular singles. "After All," a duet with Peter Cetera, and "Just Like Jesse James" were two other songs from Heart of Stone to make the top ten. Cher received the Most coveted All-Around Female Star Award at the 1989 People's Choice Awards. In 1989, she began the Heart of Stone Tour. Most analysts liked Cher's showmanship and praised the tour's nostalgic spirit. Cher at the Mirage (1991), a parent television special, was shot during a Las Vegas concert.

In this tale about a woman who moves her two daughters from town to town at the end of a love affair, Cher paid tribute to her own mother in her first film in three years (1990). She clashed with the film's first two directors, Lasse Hallström and Frank Oz, who were replaced by Richard Benjamin. The producers believed that Cher will be the star attraction, but that she would have creative control of the film. Mermaids was a box office hit and received generally positive feedback. Cher's "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)," one of the film's soundtrack, topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks.

Cher's last studio album for Geffen Records, Love Hurts (1991), remained at number one in the United Kingdom for six weeks, and she released the UK top-ten single "Love and Understanding" on its website. The album was named gold by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIAA). Cher said that her Geffen label "hit years" had been particularly significant to her, "because I was going to do songs that really represented me, and they were everywhere." CherFitness: A New Attitude and CherFitness: Body Confidence, 1991. She first published the exercise book Forever Fit in 1991, then the 1992 fitness documentary CherFitness: A New Attitude and CherFitness: Body Confidence. She began riding the Love Hurts Tour in 1992. The UK-only compilation album Greatest Hits: 1965-1992 reached the top of the country's top charts for seven weeks. "Oh No Not My Baby," "When You're Near," and "Many Rivers to Cross" are three new songs.

Cher subsequently dropped out of leading roles in such films as The War of the Roses and Thelma & Louise due in part to her experience filming Mermaids. "She was so worried about her next career move that she was overly concerned," Berman said. She contracted the Epstein–Barr virus and chronic exhaustion syndrome in the early 1990s, leaving her too drained to continue her film and television careers. She appeared in infomercials launching health, beauty, and diet supplements, earning her nearly $100 million in fees because she had to make money and wasn't well-rested to work on other projects. On Saturday Night Live, the skits were parodied and critics deemed them a sellout, with some arguing that her film career had come to an end. "I became the Infomercial Queen right away, and it didn't occur to me that people would be concerned about that and stripping me of all my other stuff," she wrote in Ladies' Home Journal.

Cher made cameo appearances in Robert Altman's The Player (1992) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994). She founded Sanctuary, a mail-order catalogue service that sells Gothic-themed merchandise, and starred in MTV's animated series Beavis and Butt-head in 1994. She appeared on the UK Singles Chart in 1995 with the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge," alongside Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry, and Eric Clapton. She joined Warner Music UK's WEA label later this year, and released the album It's a Man's World (1995), which defied her intention of covering men's songs from a woman's point of view. Critics generally favored the album and its R&B influences, with others indicating that her voice had improved. "From an artistic standpoint, this soulful series of grown-up pop songs... is the pinnacle of her recording career," Stephen Holden wrote. It's a Man's World, which has landed the top-ten single "One by One" on the UK Albums Chart and spawned the UK top ten single "One by One." Tracks were reimagined for the American release of the album, abandoning its original rock sound in favour of a more mainstream style. The US debut on the Billboard 200 was disappointing, racking number 64.

In the Chazz Palminteri-scripted dark comedy film Faithful, Cher played the wife of a businessman who recruits a hitman to murder her. Despite critical praise, Cher was lauded for her role; The New York Times' Janet Maslin said she "does her game best to find comedic potential in a victim's role." Cher refused to endorse the film, saying it was "horrible." She made her directorial debut with a segment in the abortion-themed anthology If These Walls Could Talk (1996), in which she appeared as a doctor murdered by an anti-abortion fanatic. It attracted the highest viewership for an original HBO film to date, earning an 18.7 percent in HBO homes and attracting 6.9 million viewers. Her music appeared in the American television series "The Post-Modern Prosecutors," which aired in November 1997. It's written for her and tells the tale of a scientist's grotesque creature who adores Cher because of her role in Mask, in which her character cares for her disfigured son.

Cher expressed eulogy at his funeral following Sonny Bono's death in a skiing crash in 1998, naming him "the most unforgettable person" she had encountered. She paid tribute to him by hosting Sonny & Me: Cher remembers, which aired on May 20, 1998. Sonny and Cher became a member of the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television for the month. Cher released The First Time, a series of autobiographical essays about "first-time" events in her life that critics praised as down-to-earth and genuine later this year. Despite the fact that the manuscript was almost finished when Sonny died, she was unable to decide whether or not to include his death in the book; she was afraid of being chastised for capitalizing on the situation. "I couldn't ignore it, couldn't I?" Rolling Stone told her. If I cared more about what people think than what I know is right for me, I might have changed that."

Cher's 22nd studio album Believe (1998) marked a musical departure for her, as it contained dance-pop songs; many of which capture the "disco-era essence"; "I'm not saying this is a '70s album; but there's a thread, a thread running through it, that I adore." Believe was awarded quadruple platinum by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIAA) and went on to be rated gold or platinum in 39 countries, selling ten million copies around the world. The album's title track debuted in over 23 countries and has sold more than ten million copies worldwide. It was the best-selling album of 1998 and 1999, respectively, in the United Kingdom and the United States, and Cher's most commercial single to date. "Believe" topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks, becoming the country's highest-selling single of all time by a female artist, selling over 1.84 million copies in the country up to October 2018. It also topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks, with over 1.8 million units sold in the United States since December 1999. Cher was named Best Dance Recording and the 1999 Billboard Music Award for Top 100 Single of the Year for the song.

Cher performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl XXIII on January 31, 1999. She appeared on television program VH1 Divas Live 2, which attracted 19.4 million viewers two months later. According to VH1, Cher's presence was "a vital part of making it exactly that."

The Do You Believe?

In every American city in which it was scheduled, every American city in which it was scheduled sold out, amassing a global audience of more than 1.5 million. Cher: Live in Concert – The MGM Grand in Las Vegas (1999) was the highest-rated original HBO program in the HBO universe, with a 9.0 rating among adults 18 to 49 and a 13.0 rating. Capitalizing on the success of Cher's former record company, Geffen Records,'s "Believe" compilation album If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits, which features the previously unreleased song "Don't Come Cryin' to Me." The RIAA has awarded it a Gold medal. Cher released The Greatest Hits, a compilation album that sold three million copies outside of the United States, seven months later.

Cher was named as the number one dance artist of 1999 by Billboard. She received the Legend Award at the 1999 World Music Awards for her "lifelong service to the music industry." Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini (1999), her next film, received generally positive feedback, and she received critical acclaim for her role as a wealthy, flamboyant American socialite whose visit to Italy is not welcomed among the Englishwomen; one reviewer on Film Comment said, "It's only after she appears that she's been missing from movie screens!" Cher is a natural performer. Cher, that is, she does an excellent job at being a protagonist and yet also not allowing you to forget: that's Cher.

Not Commercial (2000) was largely written by Cher after she had attended a songwriter's conference in 1994; it was her first attempt at writing the majority of the tracks for an album. She chose not to sell the album on her website because it had been refused by her record label for being uncommercial. She slammed the nuns who barred her mother from recovering her from a Catholic orphanage in the song "Sisters of Mercy." The song was banned from the Catholic church.

Cher's highly awaited dance-oriented sequel to Believe, Living Proof (2001), debuted on Billboard 200 at number nine and was awarded gold by the RIAA. The album features "The Music's No Good Without You" and "Song for the Lonely," the former album dedicated to "the brave people of New York" following the September 11 attacks. She appeared at the VH1 Divas Las Vegas benefit concert in May 2002. She received the Dance/Club Play Artist of the Year Award from Steven Tyler for her work in helping redefine popular music with huge success on the Billboard charts in 2002. Her fortune in that year was estimated at $600 million.

Cher began the Living Proof Tour: Cherney's final live concert tour of her career in June 2002, although she promised to continue making music and films. The program displayed her achievements in music, television, and film, as well as video clips from the 1960s and a complex background and stage setup.

The worldwide tour had been scheduled for 49 shows but was postponed several times. It was the most profitable tour ever by a woman by October 2003, grossing $145 million from 200 shows and performing to 2.2 million viewers. As the album Live!, a collection of live tracks from the tour was released in 2003. The Farewell Tour is a tour of sorts. Cher – The Farewell Tour (2003) attracted 17 million viewers. It was the highest rated network-TV concert special of 2003, granting Cher the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special.

Cher signed a worldwide contract with Warner Bros. Records in September 2003 after leaving Warner UK in 2002. The Very Best of Cher (2003), a best-hits collection that tracks her entire career, debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and was named double platinum by the Royal Institute of British Architects. As she appeared in bed with a much younger boyfriend, she played herself in the Farley brothers comedy Stuck on You (2003), mocking her public image.

Cher's 326-date Farewell Tour ended in 2005 as one of the most successful concert tours of all time, with over 3.5 million visitors and earning $250 million. She began performing at the Colosseum in Las Vegas in 2008, earning her $60 million after three years of retirement. The production, titled Cher, featured state-of-the-art video and special effects, elaborate set designs, 14 dancers, four aerialists, and more than 20 costume changes.

The actress plays a nightclub impresario in Burlesque (2010), Cher's first musical film since 1967's Good Times. Cher's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," one of the two songs she recorded for the film's soundtrack, debuted at number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in January 2011, making her the first artist to have a number one single on a Billboard chart in six decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s. She was honoured to place her handprints and footprints in cement in the courtyard in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in November 2010. Janet the Lioness lent her voice to Janet the Lioness in the comedy Zookeeper's next year. Unlikely Mom, Love Cher, a documentary she produced about her mother Georgia Holt, aired on Lifetime in May 2013.

Cher's 25th studio album and first since 2001's Living Proof debuts at number three on the Billboard 200, her highest ranking on the charts to date. "Cher's 'Goddess of Pop' sash appears to be in no risk of undue snatching,' according to Michael Andor Brodeur of The Boston Globe; at 67, she appears more convincing than J-Lo or Madonna reporting from 'the club'. On the season four finale of the talent show The Voice, Cher premiered the lead single "Woman's World," her first live television appearance in over a decade. She joined the show's season five as judge Blake Shelton's team advisor.

Cher appeared at the annual Dance on the Pier benefit on June 30, 2013, commemorating Gay Pride Day. It was the event's first sellout in five years. During the seventeenth week of ABC's Dancing with the Stars' seventeenth season, she appeared as a guest performer and judge in November 2013. She began her Dressed to Kill Tour in March 2014, nearly a decade after announcing her "farewell tour." While crossing fingers, she mumbled about this information during the shows, implying that this will be her last farewell tour. The tour's first leg, which featured 49 sold-out shows in North America, grossed $54.9 million. She postponed all remaining dates due to a kidney disease epidemic that affected renal function in November 2014.

Cher announced a collaboration with American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan on their album "Once Upon a Time" in Shaolin on May 7, 2014. Bonnie Jo Mason is credited with a alias that her ancestorship, which occurred in 1964. Only one copy of the album has been made, and it was sold by an online auction in November 2015. It's the most expensive single album to ever be sold. Cher posed for his brand's fall/winter media campaign after being Marc Jacobs' guest at the 2015 Met Gala. "This has been a dream of mine for a long time," the fashion stylist explained.

Classic Cher, a three-year concert performer at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, and MGM National Harbor, Washington, opened in February 2017. Cher performed "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time," her first awards show performance in more than 15 years, and Gwen Stefani presented her with the Billboard Icon Award, "a role model for showing us how to be healthy and true to ourselves [and] the definition of the word Icon."

Cher returned to film in 2018 for the romantic musical comedy film Mamma Mia! We're back. According to Viviana Olen and Matt Harkins of New York magazine, "it's only at the climax of the film when its true promise is kept: Cher arrives..." Every single film, no matter how flawless, would be infinitely better if it included Cher." Ruby Sheridan, Amanda Seyfried's grandmother, and Donna Stacey's mother are portrayed by Meryl Stacy. "Fernando" and "Super Trouper" were two ABBA songs for the film's soundtrack. "She makes Fernando her own," Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA said. It's now her song.

Cher appeared in the 40th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on March 4, 2018. Within three hours after she hinted at her appearance on Twitter, tickets were sold out. Cher joined the Here We Go Again Tour in September 2018.

While promoting Mamma Mia!

Here We Go Again Cher Cherry announced that she was working on an album that would feature cover versions of songs from ABBA. Dancing Queen, the album, was released on September 28, 2018. "The 72-year-old makes ABBA songs not only sound like they should've been written for her in the first place but like they legitimately belong in 2018," Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone said. "This is Cher's most significant debut since 1998's Believe," Marc Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly said, "One of Us" is clearly Cher's best recordings in years." Dancing Queen debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, tying for Cher's highest-charting solo album in the United States with 2013's Closer to the Truth. It earned the year's biggest sales week for a female artist's debut, as well as Cher's biggest sales week since 1991. Dancing Queen also topped Billboard's Top Album Sales Chart, making it Cher's first top-one album on the chart.

The Cher Show, a jukebox musical based on Cher's life and music, premiered on June 28, 2018, and was on display at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago until July 15. Broadway previews began on November 1, with its official opening on December 3, 2018. It was written by Rick Elice and portrays three actresses playing Cher at various times of her life. In 2022, the Cher Show is scheduled to debut a UK and Ireland tour.

Cher was given the Kennedy Center Honors award in Washington on December 2, 2018, the annual Washington honor for artists who have made notable contributions to culture. The dinner featured tributes by Cyndi Lauper, Little Big Town, and Adam Lambert. Cher announced on Twitter that she was working on four new projects for the next two years: a Christmas album; a second album of ABBA covers; an autobiography; and a biographical film about her life.

Cher Eau de Couture, Cher's fourth-year-old perfume, was launched in October 2019. It is Cher's second fragrance after Uninhibited in 1987. It's described as "genderless." Cher was unveiled as the new star of fashion brand Dsquared2 on February 4, 2020. She appeared in the brand's spring/summer ad campaign, which was produced by photographers Mert and Marcus. Cher released her first Spanish-language song, a cover of ABBA's "Chiquitita." Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the single's proceeds were donated to UNICEF. Cher released "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" in November as part of BBC Radio 2 Allstars' charity campaign, supporting the Children in Need charity.

In the animated film Bobbleheads: The Movie (2020), Cher appeared in a voice-over role as a bobblehead version of herself. "Cher's stunning appearance in Moonstruck warmed us in quarantine," the first time an actor not in a current-year theatrical release made it on the annual list. Cher appeared in Pink's "All I Know So Far" in May 2021. Cher appeared in January 2022 as the star of MAC Cosmetics' "Challenge Accepted" campaign alongside rapper Saweetie. Cher created a limited "Cherace" capsule collection in honor of Pride Month in June 2022. A part of the funds were donated to Gender Spectrum, a charity that works with LGBTQIA+ children and young people.

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