 Cher on the cover of her album Living Proof Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPière on May 20, 1946) is an American actress and singer.
Cher first achieved success as one of the pop music duo Sonny and Cher with her first husband, Sonny Bono. Together, they had a number one single called "I Got You Babe" (1965) in both the U.K. and The U.S.A. After their career stalled (their bubble-gum pop was not popular in an era of edgier tunes), CBS head of programming Fred Silverman gave the duo their own show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, in 1971. It was a surprise hit and ran for four seasons before the duo decided to end its run; Cher announced her intent to separate from Sonny. She later hosted and performed in her own variety TV series, which ran for two seasons and concluded in 1977.
During the early Seventies, Cher began to establish herself as a solo recording artist with producer Snuff Garrett, and she scored three U.S. #1 hits with the songs Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves (1971), Half-Breed (1973), and Dark Lady (1974). Cher and Bono divorced in 1974, and she later married rock musician Gregg Allman, a member of the Allman Brothers Band. She has two children, Chastity Bono and Elijah Blue Allman. In 1978, Cher was romantically linked with Gene Simmons of KISS. Cher and Allman divorced in 1979 and she later had a relationship with guitarist Les Dudek.
Cher had demonstrated her considerable comedic talents in the various skits she performed on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, and while she was highly regarded in this arena, her ambition to develop a movie career was at first not taken seriously. For several years she worked at trying to secure a role to prove herself, until she was cast in a stage production of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. The reviews she received were glowing and she was cast in the film version, directed by Robert Altman. Once again the critics praised her work and she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
This finally allowed her to make the transition into a successful acting career, starring in films including Silkwood (nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), Mask (for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award in 1985), Suspect, Moonstruck (for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988), Mermaids and Tea With Mussolini. In 1989 she scored another million-selling #1 hit with the song If I Could Turn Back Time.
Following the devastating earthquake that hit Armenia in December of 1988, Cher travelled to the country to participate in the relief activities. Cher is of Armenian descent.
Her ability to reinvent herself has allowed her to continue performing and creating successful recordings for more than 35 years. One exception was her alternative-rock album entitled Not.Commercial (pronounced "not-dot-com-mercial"). The album was written after a retreat to a poetry class in France; it was rejected by record labels and Cher chose to sell it on her Web site, with limited success.
In 1998 she had one of the biggest successes of her recording career with the number one hit Believe and the million selling album of the same name which won her a Grammy Award. With the success of Believe, Cher became the oldest woman in the rock era to have a Number One hit. In the United Kingdom, "Believe" stayed at No. 1 in the charts for seven weeks and is the all-time biggest-selling single by a solo female artist.
In 2004 she was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Dance Recording" for her song "Love One Another" but she lost to Australian Kylie Minogue. In the same year, she was told that for health reasons she would no longer be able to perform live. She therefore embarked on her last-ever world-wide tour (the Farewell Tour), her most spectacular and best-received tour ever. However, while this tour may be her last, it shows no signs of terminating in the near future; it has included over 200 shows and continues to add new venues.
Among her many achievements, Cher is the only recording artist in history to score #1 hits in four successive decades and she also holds the Billboard record for the longest time span --34 years-- between her first #1 hit in 1965 and her most recent #1 in 1999.
Cher is managed by expatriate Australian impresario Roger Davies. The former manager of successful '70s Australian pop band Sherbet, Davies' company also manages Tina Turner, Sade, Pink, Joe Cocker and Tony Joe White.
Discography
Albums Compilations are only listed if they have charted. - 1965 "All I Really Want to Do" #16 US, #7 UK
- 1966 "The Sonny Side of Cher" #26 US, #11 UK
- 1966 "Cher" #59 US
- 1968 "Backstage"
- 1968 "With Love, Cher" #47 US
- 1968 "Cher's Golden Greats" (compilation) #195 US
- 1969 "3614 Jackson Highway" #160 US
- 1971 "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" #16 US
- 1972 "Foxy Lady" #43 US
- 1972 "Cher's Superpak" (compilation) #92 US
- 1972 "Cher's Superpak, Vol. II" (compilation) #95 US
- 1973 "Bittersweet White Light" #140 US
- 1973 "Half Breed" #28 US
- 1974 "Dark Lady" #69 US
- 1974 "Greatest Hits" (compilation) #152 US
- 1975 "Stars" #153 US
- 1976 "I'd Rather Believe in You"
- 1977 "Two the Hard Way [Allman & Woman]"
- 1977 "Cherished"
- 1978 "This Is Cher"
- 1979 "Take Me Home" #25 US
- 1980 "Prisoner"
- 1982 "I Paralyze"
- 1987 "Cher" #32 US, #26 UK (charted in 1988)
- 1989 "Heart of Stone" #10 US, #7 UK
- 1991 "Love Hurts" #48 US, #1 UK
- 1993 "Greatest Hits: 1965-1992" (compilation) #1 UK
- 1995 "It's a Man's World" #64 US, #10 UK
- 1998 "Believe" #4 US, #7 UK
- 1999 "If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits" (compilation) #57 US
- 1999 "Greatest Hits" (compilation) #7 UK
- 2000 "Not.Com.mercial" (sold online only)
- 2002 "Living Proof" #9 US, #46 UK
- 2003 "The Very Best of Cher" (compilation) #4 US, #17 UK
- 2003 "Live: The Farewell Tour" #40 US
Hit singles - from "All I Really Want to Do"
- 1965 "All I Really Want to Do" #15 US, #9 UK
- 1965 "Where Do You Go" #25 US
- from "The Sonny Side of Cher"
- 1966 "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" #2 US, #3 UK
- 1966 "Sunny" #32 UK
- non-album single
- from "With Love, Cher"
- 1967 "You Better Sit Down Kids" #9 US
- from "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves"
- 1971 "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" #1 US, #4 UK
- 1972 "The Way of Love" #7 US
- from "Foxy Lady"
- 1972 "Living in a House Divided" #22 US
- from "Half Breed"
- 1973 "Half-Breed" #1 US
- 1974 "Train of Thought" #27 US
- from "Dark Lady"
- 1974 "Dark Lady" #1 US, #36 UK
- from "Take Me Home"
- 1979 "Take Me Home" #8 US
- from "Cher" (1987)
- 1987 "I Found Someone" #10 US, #5 UK
- 1988 "We All Sleep Alone" #14 US
- non-album single
- 1989 "After All (Love Theme from Chances Are)" #6 US
- from "Heart of Stone"
- 1989 "If I Could Turn Back Time" #3 US, #6 UK
- 1990 "Just Like Jesse James" #8 US, #11 UK
- 1990 "Heart of Stone" #20 US
- from "Mermaids" soundtrack
- 1990 "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" #33 US, #1 UK (1991 release)
- from "Love Hurts"
- 1991 "Love and Understanding" #17 US, #10 UK
- 1991 "Save Up All Your Tears" #37 US, #37 UK
- 1992 "Could've Been You" #31 UK
- from "Greatest Hits: 1965-1992"
- 1992 "Oh No Not My Baby" #33 UK
- 1993 "Many Rivers to Cross" #37 UK
- non-album charity single
- 1995 "Love Can Build a Bridge" (with Chrissie Hynde & Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton) #1 UK
- from "It's a Man's World"
- 1995 "Walking in Memphis" #11 UK
- 1996 "One by One" #7 UK
- 1996 "Not Enough Love in the World" #31 UK
- 1996 "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" #26 UK
- from "Believe"
- 1998 "Believe" #1 US, #1 UK
- 1999 "Strong Enough" #5 UK
- 1999 "All or Nothing" #12 UK
- 1999 "Dov'e L'Amore" #21 UK
- from "Living Proof"
- 2001 "The Music's No Good Without You" #8 UK
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