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Cher, a versatile artist, is renowned across the globe as a singer and an actress. She is always in the news, be it because of her clothes at the Academy Awards ceremony or her much talked about relationships. Cher always manages to shock, impress and amuse, all at the same time.

Cher was born as Cherilyn Sarkisian on 20 May, 1946, in El Centro California. Her acting ambitions were fuelled by her mother who modelled and did bit roles on stage and in films. It was her mother who encouraged Cher to start acting. By the time she turned sixteen, she realised she couldn’t study as a result of undiagnosed dyslexia and decided to focus on acting instead.

She met Sonny Bono who was much older than her and they struck up a great friendship and later married. Since Bono worked for a record producer, Cher got singing assignments as a backing singer.

Her first two solo albums were not successful. Cher joined with Sonny and their first duet “I Got You Babe” was a big hit. Cashing in on the success, they toured the world with their shows and were amongst the top ten singers during that time.

Always outspoken, Cher was the more popular one. She was considered a fashion icon and her trademark costumes were a hit on these shows. Deciding to go solo again, she came out with her solo album, All I Really Want to Do , which climbed the charts to number sixteen. A year later, the solo album, The Sonny Side of Cher had the hit single “Where Do You Go”.

Cher’s next album did not too well and the film, which she starred in with Sonny, entitled Good Times (1967) also flopped at the box office.

By the seventies, Cher and Sonny were appearing in a television show called Sonny and Cher’s Nitty Gritty Hour , which changed to Sonny and Cher’s Comedy Hour . She won a Golden Globe for the show. In the meantime, Cher continued to record solo singles with “Gypsy, Tramps and Thieves”, “The Way of Love”, “Half Breed” and “Dark Lady”.

Cher always claimed that she was a better actress than a singer. She proved this when she was cast in her first Broadway show Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. She won critical praise for her part. She was later offered a role opposite Meryl Streep in Silkwood (1983) and Witches of Eastwick (1987) which again won her critical acclaim. But her biggest success was Moonstruck (1987) with Nicholas Cage for which she won an Oscar.

By the time she was fifty, Cher was on top of the world. Her last album Believe beat every other album to reach the top slot and at fifty-two, she was the oldest singer to have that honour.