50 Fun Facts About Cher

What was Cher's birth name?

She was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946, and later adopted as Cheryl LaPiere.

Cher's father was of which ancestry, her paternal grandparents having survived a genocide?

Her mother Georgia Holt was of Irish, English, German and Native American descent.

Under what name did Cher release her first single, 'Ringo, I Love You', in 1964?

Radio programmers mistook her low voice for a man's and thought a gay man was singing to Ringo Starr.

Which record producer was Sonny Bono working for when he met Cher in 1962?

Sonny was 11 years older than her.

Before they were Sonny & Cher, the duo recorded under what alias?

Reprise once released singles under both names at the same time without realising they were the same act.

Which 1965 Sonny & Cher hit became emblematic of 1960s counterculture?

It later got a second life playing every morning in Groundhog Day.

Which moody 1966 song was Cher's first million-selling solo single?

It reached No. 1 in Italy, No. 2 in the US and No. 3 in the UK.

Which of these was NOT one of Cher's three US Billboard No. 1 singles of the 1970s?

The Way of Love was a hit but stalled outside the top spot.

Cher's 'Half-Breed' is sung by the daughter of a white father and a mother of which nation?

Lyricist Mary Dean wrote it specifically for Cher.

How much did Sonny and Cher spend, mortgaging their home, on the 1969 film Chastity?

It flopped, and the couple named their first child after it.

On which network did The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour air, drawing more than 30 million viewers a week?

It premiered as a summer replacement in August 1971 and ran for three years.

On her solo 1970s TV show, Cher fought the censors to become the first woman to do what on US television?

Bob Mackie designed the outfits that made it possible.

Which designer created Cher's trend-setting outfits on the Comedy Hour and beyond?

Her sketch character Laverne LaShinsky was a brash housewife who let her practise comedy.

Cher and Sonny split in late 1972 but stayed legally married for how much longer to protect their careers?

'The public still thinks we are married,' Sonny wrote in his diary; the divorce was final on June 26, 1975.

Whom did Cher marry on June 30, 1975, four days after her divorce from Sonny was finalised?

Their son Elijah Blue Allman was born the following July.

The 1976 reunion series The Sonny and Cher Show broke new ground on television how?

Their onscreen digs about the divorce helped sink it by August 1977.

Under what joint name did Cher and her second husband release the 1977 duet album Two the Hard Way?

Fights broke out between her fans and Allman Brothers fans, and she cancelled the tour.

How much per week was Cher earning from her early-1980s Caesars Palace residency?

She was fronting the rock band Black Rose at the same time.

Cher made her Broadway debut in 1982 in which Robert Altman production, later filmed?

She had moved to New York to study with Lee Strasberg but was cast before enrolling.

Cher earned her first Oscar nomination as Dolly Pelliker, the title character's roommate, in which 1983 film?

Mike Nichols cast her after seeing her onstage in Jimmy Dean; Meryl Streep played the lead.

For which 1985 film did Cher win the Best Actress award at Cannes?

She played Rusty Dennis, a biker raising a son with a disfiguring condition.

Cher won the Academy Award for Best Actress for which film?

She plays an Italian widow who falls for her fiancé's younger brother, played by Nicolas Cage.

Who plays the younger brother Cher's character falls for in her Oscar-winning film?

Norman Jewison directed; Billboard later ranked it the best acting performance by a musician in a movie.

Who plays the wealthy visitor who seduces Cher, Pfeiffer and Sarandon in The Witches of Eastwick?

George Miller of Mad Max fame directed the comedy horror.

Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time video, notorious for its outfit, was shot on which battleship?

The single spent seven weeks at No. 1 in Australia.

Which style did Cher adopt on Cher (1987), Heart of Stone (1989) and Love Hurts (1991)?

They produced hits including If I Could Turn Back Time and The Shoop Shoop Song.

Cher's US top-ten duet 'After All' was sung with which former Chicago frontman?

Just Like Jesse James was another top-ten single from the same album.

What was Cher's directorial debut?

It was an HBO anthology film about abortion across three decades.

How did Sonny Bono die in 1998?

Cher's tearful eulogy called him 'the most unforgettable character' she had met.

Cher's 1998 hit Believe introduced the 'Cher effect'. What is it?

She was 52 at the time, and the song became 1999's No. 1 song in the US.

How many weeks did Believe spend at No. 1 in the UK?

It became the UK's best-selling single ever by a female artist.

Which Grammy did Believe win?

It also took the 1999 Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year.

How many shows did Cher's Living Proof: The Farewell Tour run to between 2002 and 2005?

It grossed $250 million from 3.5 million fans and was then the biggest tour ever by a woman.

Cher signed a $60 million deal for a 200-show residency at which Las Vegas venue?

Later, Classic Cher played the Park Theater and MGM National Harbor from 2017.

In Burlesque (2010), Cher plays a nightclub owner mentoring an aspiring performer played by whom?

It was her first musical since Good Times in 1967.

In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Cher plays Ruby Sheridan, the mother of which character?

Meryl Streep plays Donna, making the two Silkwood co-stars mother and daughter.

Cher's 2018 album Dancing Queen consisted of covers of which group?

It debuted at No. 3 in the US, tying Closer to the Truth as her highest-charting solo album.

Cher's first Spanish-language recording was a cover of which ABBA song, released for UNICEF?

She had already recorded Fernando and Super Trouper for the Mamma Mia! sequel soundtrack.

Cher's lead single from her 2023 holiday album topped two Billboard charts. What was it called?

It extended her run of Billboard No. 1s to seven consecutive decades.

Cher is the only solo artist with Billboard No. 1 singles across how many consecutive decades?

The run stretches from the 1960s to the 2020s.

In October 2024 Cher became the first performer to combine which two honours?

She was inducted on October 19, 2024, at her first nomination.

Who presented Cher with the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2018?

Adam Lambert, Cyndi Lauper and Little Big Town performed tributes.

Cher appears on Wu-Tang Clan's one-copy album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin credited under which name?

It is the alias from her 1964 debut single.

At what age did Cher's mother Georgia Holt release her debut album?

The film Dear Mom, Love Cher followed the project.

What learning difference did Cher discover she has, having struggled at school?

Classmates at Montclair Prep remembered her insisting she would be a movie star.

What was Cher's first ever film role, in 1967?

Both it and Chastity flopped, and Hollywood did not take her seriously for years.

Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves set what chart first for a solo artist?

Snuff Garrett produced it for the 1971 album Chér.

Roughly how many records has Cher sold worldwide?

Her nickname is the Goddess of Pop.

Cher's NBC farewell-tour special drew 17 million viewers and won her which award?

It was 2003's highest-rated network concert special.

Which 2018 Broadway jukebox musical tells her life story?

Three actresses play her at different ages.