The legendary singer, songwriter, and actress Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California in 1946. An Armenian-American truck driver, Cher’s father left Cher and her mother when Cher was only ten months old. The diva’s mother remarried several times over the years, and Cher remembers one stepfather fondly, saying that he was a good-natured man who drank too much. Needless to say, Cher’s home life wasn’t ideal, and the family lived in poverty much of the time. In fact, she can specifically remember having to tie rubber bands around her shoes to keep them on. Also, at one point, Cher’s mother had to leave her at an orphanage when she couldn’t take care of her. Although they visited daily, the experience was traumatizing for both the mother and the daughter.
When she was in the fifth grade, Cher got her big musical start when she produced a performance of the musical “Oklahoma!” for her teacher and the rest of her classmates. The budding musician and actress organized a group of girls and choreographed and directed their singing and dancing. Since she couldn’t get any boys to volunteer to be in the production, Cher herself acted out the male roles and sang the songs the boys would have performed had they been in the play. By the time Cher was nine years old, she already had her unusual and low husky voice. Have you ever wondered what inspired Cher to wear her delightfully outrageous and unusual outfits? She says she was inspired by Audrey Hepburn in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
In her long career in the entertainment industry, Cher has continuously reinvented herself and changed with the times. She has won a total of 141 awards, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition to all of that, Cher is the only artist to have achieved number-one singles on a Billboard chart in all of the past six decades. Cher has inspired millions of young musicians with her body of work, including Adam Lambert of “American Idol” and Queen fame.
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When Adam was a contestant on the popular singing contest show in 2009, one of his performances was Cher’s hit song “Believe.” Week after week, Adam’s voice consistently impressed the judges and he did well, but ultimately, he didn’t win the contest. Even still, he’s gone on to a successful solo career and he’s bee touring with Queen and getting some great exposure for himself and making a small fortune of his own. In the video below, you can watch Adam at the Kennedy Center Honors as he sings “Believe” in tribute to Cher.
