Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946, in El Centro, California, and began her illustrious career as a back-up singer for studio recordings while still a teenager.
Meeting Sonny Bono was crucial to her early success and they performed as Caesar & Cleo. By 1965 they were performing under their real names, Sonny and Cher - that year she was 19, he was 30. The couple quickly became popular entities, singing on big-name TV shows like Hullabaloo, Shindig! and Hollywood Palace. They enjoyed Billboard chart success, notably with I Got You, Babe.
Subsequently, the couple got their own comedy TV show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. On one September1972 show, the guests included Governor of California, Ronald Reagan and the Jackson Five. Sadly, the couple's divorce coincided pretty much with the end of the popular TV series. However, they reunited professionally for The Sonny and Cher Show in 1976.
In 1982, Cher starred in the Broadway and film versions of the Ed Graczyk play, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, both of which were directed by the late Robert Altman. In 1983, she was nominated for an Oscar for the movie Silkwood, directed by Mike Nichols. Another box office success, Mask followed in 1985.
Aside from garnering many column inches for her scene-stealing and often bizarre dress sense, Cher found time for marriage to Gregg Allman from the legendary blues-rock band, the Allman Brothers. In 1999, she enjoyed a dance hit around the world with the bouncy disco number, Believe. No slouch in the music game, this was not necessarily the big comeback, as she had released best-selling albums in each of the previous four decades.
In 2013, a fan tweeted - once again - the immortal prediction that the only survivors of a nuclear war would be cockroaches and Cher.
The singer and actress tweeted the following reply: “ . . and they’re not positive about the cockroaches!”
