Cher ( ; legally mononymous; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer and actress. Dubbed the "Goddess of Pop", she is known for her androgynous, contralto voice, bold fashion, elaborate stagecraft and multifaceted career. Her screen roles often reflect her public image as a strong-willed, outspoken woman. An influential figure in popular culture, Cher has sustained a career spanning more than six decades through continual reinvention.
Cher rose to fame in 1965 as part of the folk rock duo Sonny & Cher, whose hit single "I Got You Babe" became emblematic of 1960s counterculture. She simultaneously launched a solo career with moody pop songs such as "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", whose theatrical storytelling foreshadowed her 1970s US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed" and "Dark Lady". After a period of acting, she released the hair metal albums Cher (1987), Heart of Stone (1989) and Love Hurts (1991), scoring international top-ten hits "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)". At 52, she released the dance-pop album Believe (1998), which introduced the "Cher effect"—a stylized use of Auto-Tune to distort vocals. Its title track became 1999's number-one song in the US and the UK's best-selling single by a female artist. In the 21st century, she released her highest-charting US Billboard 200 albums, Closer to the Truth (2013) and Dancing Queen (2018), each debuting at number three.
Cher became a TV star in the 1970s with her CBS variety shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which drew more than 30 million weekly viewers, and the solo Cher, on which she became the first woman to deliberately expose her navel on American television after fighting network censors. She later gained critical acclaim with her Broadway debut and the film adaptation of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). Transitioning to film, she earned two Academy Award nominations—for Silkwood (1983) and Moonstruck (1987), winning Best Actress for the latter—and received the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress Award for Mask (1985). Other starring roles include The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Mermaids (1990), If These Walls Could Talk (1996, her directorial debut), Tea with Mussolini (1999), Burlesque (2010) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018).
One of the best-selling music artists in history, Cher has sold over 100 million records and is the only solo artist with number-one singles on the US Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades (1960s–2020s). Her accolades include two Grammy Awards—among them the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award—a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors. She is the only performer to have won an Academy Award for acting and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her 2002–2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour was the highest-grossing concert tour by a female artist at the time, earning $250 million—about $ million in . Her life and career inspired the 2018 jukebox musical The Cher Show. Beyond entertainment, Cher is known for her progressive politics, status as a gay icon and advocacy for causes including LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS awareness.
Life and career 1946–1961: Early life Cheryl Sarkisian was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. Her father, John Sarkisian, an Armenian-American truck driver with drug and gambling problems, was rarely present during her early life.Multiple sources: Sarkisian's nationality and personal problems: . Sarkisian's profession: . Sarkisian's absence during Cher's infancy: . Her mother, Georgia Holt, was a model and actress of Irish, English, German and Cherokee descent.Multiple sources: Holt's profession: . Holt's Irish, English, German and Cherokee descent: Cher's Cherokee heritage: ; Cher's paternal grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide. Cher's parents divorced when she was 10 months old. Before leaving, her father placed her in an orphanage for several months; Holt was allowed to visit once a week, only able to see Cher through a window. Both found the experience traumatic.
In 1951, Holt married actor John Southall, with whom she had Cher's half-sister, Georganne. Holt's marriage to Southall ended when Cher was nine; Cher later described him as her "real father" and a "good-natured man who turned belligerent when he drank too much". Holt remarried and divorced several times, frequently moving the family across states, including New York, Texas and California. They often struggled financially, and Cher recalled using rubber bands to hold her shoes together. While living in Los Angeles, Holt pursued acting while working as a waitress, occasionally securing minor television roles for her daughters in shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
By fifth grade, Cher organized a class performance of the musical Oklahoma!, taking on male roles when boys refused to participate. At nine, her voice was unusually low for a female child. Fascinated by film stars, Cher idolized Audrey Hepburn, particularly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), emulating Hepburn's character's unconventional outfits and demeanor. She also admired Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, but felt discouraged by the lack of dark-haired actresses in Hollywood. She recalled, "In the Walt Disney cartoons, all the witches and evil queens were really dark. There was nobody I could look at and think, 'That's who I'm like.'" As a child, she dreamed of fame but struggled with feelings of inadequacy, describing herself as "unattractive" and "untalented". Reflecting on her ambitions, she later said, "I couldn't think of anything that I could do ... I just thought, 'I'll be famous'. That was my goal."
In 1961, 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. Coming from a modest background, Cher faced challenges in the upper-class environment, where, as biographer Connie Berman wrote, her "striking appearance" and "outgoing personality" set her apart. A former classmate recalled, "I'll never forget seeing Cher for the first time. She was so special ... like a movie star, right then and there ... She said she was going to be a movie star and we knew she would." Known for her creativity and wit, Cher excelled in French and English but struggled with other subjects, later discovering she has dyslexia. Her unconventional behavior also stood out: she performed songs for students during lunch and surprised peers when she wore a midriff-baring top. Reflecting on her lack of focus in school, Cher said, "I was never really [there]. I was always thinking about when I was grown up and famous."
1962–1965: Solo breakthrough At 16, Cher left school and moved out of her mother's home to live with a friend. She took acting classes and supported herself by dancing in nightclubs along Hollywood's Sunset Strip, where she introduced herself to performers, managers and agents. According to Berman, Cher "did not hesitate to approach anyone she thought could help her get a break". She met Sonny Bono, 11 years her senior, in November 1962 while he was working for record producer Phil Spector. After her friend moved out, Cher accepted Sonny's offer to work as his housekeeper.
Sonny introduced Cher to Spector, who used her as a backing vocalist on several recordings, including the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and the Ronettes' "Be My Baby". Spector also produced her first single, "Ringo, I Love You", released in early 1964 under the name Bonnie Jo Mason. Many radio programmers rejected the song, mistaking Cher's deep contralto for a male voice and assuming it was a gay man singing to the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
Cher and Sonny became close friends, then lovers, and held an unofficial wedding ceremony in a hotel room in Tijuana, Mexico, on October 27, 1964. Although Sonny initially intended to launch Cher as a solo artist, she encouraged him to perform with her due to her stage fright, and he began joining her onstage to sing backing vocals. Cher masked her nervousness by looking at Sonny; she later said she sang to the audience through him.
In early 1964, Cher and Sonny recorded together for the first time, releasing "The Letter" as Caesar & Cleo on Vault Records. It featured inverted harmonies—Cher sang the lower part and Sonny the higher—a reversal of the typical male–female vocal roles they continued using in later recordings. Later that year, the duo signed a one-off deal with Reprise Records for another Caesar & Cleo single, "Love Is Strange". A week before its release, their managers reintroduced them to Reprise as a new act—Sonny & Cher—in an effort to secure a more lucrative contract. Unaware they were the same duo, Reprise released both singles simultaneously: "Love Is Strange" as Caesar & Cleo and "Baby Don't Go" as Sonny & Cher. Reprise declined a long-term deal after discovering the connection. While the Caesar & Cleo singles were commercially unsuccessful, "Baby Don't Go" found success in Los Angeles, prompting Atlantic Records to sign them to its Atco label.
In late 1964, Cher signed a solo contract with Liberty Records' Imperial imprint, with Sonny as producer. The single "Dream Baby", released under the name Cherilyn, received airplay in Los Angeles. Encouraged by its early momentum, Imperial requested a follow-up. In summer 1965, she released a cover of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do", now credited as "Chér". The single peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the UK singles chart. Chart history for the UK and Scotland can be accessed via drop-down menus on the webpage. Select the relevant chart for details. Meanwhile, the Byrds released their own version of the song. As the two versions began competing on the charts, the Byrds' label shifted focus to promoting their single's B-side. Roger McGuinn of the Byrds recalled, "We loved the Cher version ... We didn't want to hassle. So we just turned our record over." Cher's debut album, All I Really Want to Do (1965), reached number 16 on the US Billboard 200. AllMusic's Tim Sendra later called it "one of the stronger folk-pop records of the era".
1965–1967: Sonny and Cher's breakthrough
While launching her solo career, Cher continued recording with Sonny as a duo. Sonny & Cher's first Atco single, "Just You", failed to chart upon its April 1965 release. After recording "I Got You Babe", they traveled to England in July 1965 on the advice of the Rolling Stones. Cher recalled the Stones saying, "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. 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.
"I Got You Babe" reached number one on 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". As the song displaced the Beatles at the top of the UK charts, English teenagers began emulating Sonny & Cher's fashion—bell-bottoms, striped pants and fur vests. According to Times Ginia Bellafante, they became "rock's 'it' couple".
After returning to the US in late 1965, the duo made their film debut with a cameo in Wild on the Beach (1965), appeared on teen-oriented TV shows such as Hullabaloo and Shindig! and toured major arenas across the country. Their concerts drew numerous Cher look-alikes, with girls straightening and dyeing their hair black and adopting her signature vests and bell-bottoms.