gemini072
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Joined: 27 Nov 2004
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 Posted: Tue 29 Apr 2008 16:52 Post subject: Cher |
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http://www.cher.com/
Spanning 3 decades in the music industry, hippies listened to Sonny and Cher sing "I've Got You, Babe", while club-goers danced to "Believe" in the '90s.
Biography
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.
Before hitting it big with "I Got You, Babe", Sonny and Cher performed in venues such as bowling alleys, under the name Caesar and Cleo. Cher's solo recordings under the monikers Bonnie Jo Mason and Cherilyn were also ill-fated attempts, and Sonny and Cher only saw stardom once they sang the 1965 Bono-penned love song.
Known as much for their groovy attire as for their following hits, "Baby Don't Go" and "Just You", Sonny and Cher's stardom was short-lived. They had one more hit in 1967, "The Beat Goes On", before getting married in 1969 and disappearing into 60's pop culture.
After one more solo hit for Cher, "You Better Sit Down Kids", things went downhill for Sonny and Cher. The exotic brunette ventured into film with the Bono-funded Chastity and Good Times, but to no avail.
After being degraded to nothing more than a Las Vegas lounge act and a distant memory, CBS made Sonny and Cher an offer they couldn't refuse: a one-hour television variety show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. The couple was back, displaying the chemistry that had attracted their fans years ago. The show also appealed to feminists who loved Cher's strong, independent woman persona, as well as the fact that this beauty did not look like the poster girl for an all-American woman.
Cher returned to the pop charts, but the troubled married life of Sonny and Cher brought their marriage and their successful show to an end. After marrying her second husband, Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers, Cher retuned to television with what started out as her own variety series, but ultimately became The Sonny and Cher Show.
By 1979, The show was cancelled after 2 seasons, while Cher and a heroine-addicted alcoholic Allman were divorced. Wanting to return to her original passion -- acting -- Cher's career as a respected actress took off after her work in the onstage performance, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean. She landed a role opposite Hollywood A-list actress Meryl Streep in Silkwood.
Proving that Cher was a born actress, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Silkwood, and followed up this performance with roles in Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, Suspect, and Moonstruck. Her role in the latter, also starring Nicolas Cage, garnered Cher the Academy Award for Best Actress.
After hit singles in the late 80's such as "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Heart of Stone", and a role in Mermaids co-starring Winona Ryder, Cher had reached a point of exhaustion. Her chronic fatigue led her to turn to infomercials and fitness videos, which placed a stigma on the career of the Oscar and Emmy winning actress.
A tabloid favorite and the butt of comedian's jokes, Cher successfully made a comeback to the top with a hit album in 1998, Believe. After losing her status as well as the respect of audiences and those in the industry, not to mention the tragic death of long-time friend and ex-husband, Sonny Bono, Cher rebounded back into the music industry with a remarkable comeback.
Her dance-infused album was a hit in dance clubs and amongst her gay following (Cher is also a gay activist). The best-selling album in her 4-decade long career, and one of Europe's best-selling albums, Believe proved that Cher is a strong-willed, independent woman with boundless determination.
Cher returned to the big-screen last summer with her role in the female star-studded film, Tea With Mussolini. Previously romantically linked with Kiss' Gene Simmons, David Geffen and Richie Sambora, Cher is the mother of Chastity, an open lesbian and daughter of the late Sonny Bono, and Elijah Blue Allman, the son of Gregg Allman.
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.
If history repeats itself, we certainly haven't seen the last of this fascinating performer.
Cher was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946, at 7:25 a.m. Her father, John Sarkisian, was an Armenian refugee who worked as a truck driver.[5] Her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch[6]), born at Sharp County, Arkansas, May 20, 1940, an aspiring actress and occasional model, is of Cherokee, English and German descent.[7][8] Cher's mother and father separated and divorced when she was young and she was raised primarily by her mother (whose later husbands include John Southall), who had married Gilbert LaPierre, a banker who adopted Cher.[5] Due to financial problems, Cher's mother placed her in foster care for a time as a child. Later, her mother provided acting lessons to help further her career.[9] In those years Cher had a relationship with actor Warren Beatty.[10] Due to severe, undiagnosed dyslexia, she left Fresno High School at the age of 16.[11] It is rumored that Cher's original birthplace is the small town on Nevada's historic Highway 50, called Ely. However, such allegations have proven insubstantial and have no factual basis. The source of this rumor remains rather mysterious.Also in 2005 Cher was The worlds top earning Female singer..with 33 million dollars U.S.
Cher scored her second number one with "Half-Breed" (1973) which became a signature song from the gold-certified album Half-Breed. In 1974, Cher had her third #1 solo hit with "Dark Lady" (1974), also from the album of the same name. Cher's first Greatest Hits album was released in 1974.
"Half-Breed" is a song released as a single in 1973 by singer/actress Cher. The song became Cher's second U.S. number one hit on October 6, 1973.
"Half-Breed" is the first international release from Cher's album Half-Breed. The song tells the story of a young woman who is half white and half Cherokee. The song describes the troubles she faced, and the way she experienced racism. White people often called her "Indian squaw" and the Native Americans never accepted her because they told her that she was "white by law." (Cher herself is part-Cherokee.)
In 1973, Half-Breed topped the United States Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, becoming Cher's second number one hit. The song was a number one hit in Canada, a Top 10 hit in Sweden, and a Top 20 hit in Norway. In Germany and the UK, the song struggled to chart.
In 1999, after almost 25 years of not performing the song live, Cher performed this song in her Do You Believe? Tour. In 2002, she performed the song 325 times in her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour.
Music video
The video for Half-Breed is a recorded performance of the song on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in 1973. Cher is on a horse while singing in front of a white screen. Props symbolizing Native American objects were used, such as wood carvings, fire and costumes.
My father married a pure Cherokee
My mother's people were ashamed of me
The indians said I was white by law
The White Man always called me "Indian Squaw"
CHORUS:
Half-breed, that's all I ever heard
Half-breed, how I learned to hate the word
Half-breed, she's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
We never settled, went from town to town
When you're not welcome you don't hang around
The other children always laughed at me
"Give her a feather, she's a Cherokee"
Repeat Chorus
We weren't accepted and I felt ashamed
Nineteen I left them, tell me who's to blame
My life since then has been from man to man
But it can't run away from what I am |
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