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Artist Biography - Cher
Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere was born May 20th, 1946, in El Centro, California. The surprisingly shy youngster was the daughter of a struggling actress mother, and a father that left Cher and her mother when she was three years old. Poor, and looking to pursue an acting career, Cher headed for LA at age 16, leaving behind her family and her chances of obtaining a high school diploma.
In 1963, destiny changed for Cher when she and music producer Sonny Bono had a chance encounter at a coffee shop. The two became friends and eventually moved in together, despite the 11-year age difference between them. By the time they sang their hit, "I Got You, Babe", the pair were lovers, and the song became a theme song for hippie lovebirds everywhere.
Cher became famous as one of the rock and roll duo Sonny and Cher with her first husband, Sonny Bono. 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. The show ran for four seasons before the duo decided to end its run; Cher announced her intent to separate from Sonny.
They were divorced in 1974, and she later married again, this time to rock and roll singer Gregg Allman, a member of the Allman Brothers Band. She has two children, Chastity Bono and Elijah Blue Allman.
Cher had demonstrated her 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 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.
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Cher
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 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.
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 UK, "Believe" stayed at No. 1 in the charts for seven weeks and is the all-time biggest-selling single by a solo female artist.
Active in causes such as AIDS, gay rights and the Children's Craniofacial Association, Cher has also added producer to her resume, with her role in the HBO drama If These Walls Could Talk.
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.
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For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Cher
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