  Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkasian
LaPier on May 20, 1946 in California. Cher's
entertainment career has spanned 4 decades
and has run the gamut from music to movies,
television to cosmetic endorsements, and
author to activist.
Cher had left home as a teen and
moved to Hollywood with hopes of becoming a
movie star. She was working singing backup
for producer Phil Spector when she met Sonny
Bono. Bono and Cher were married in
1964 and by 1965 they had topped the pop
charts as Sonny & Cher
(changing from their original name, Caesar
& Cleo) with "I Got You Babe."
Cher was also finding success on the charts
with some of her solo hits: "Bang Bang
(My Baby Shot Me Down)" and "You
Better Sit Down Kids." Cher also
appeared in 2 films: Good
Times (with Sonny in 1967) and Chasity
(in 1969).
The rise to the top for Sonny
& Cher was just as quick as their fall
from success after their music career slowed
(many speculating that the fall was due to
their opposition and vocalizing against drug
use). The tone of Sonny & Cher shifted
toward more mainstream entertainment and led
to success on television with their own
variety series in the early 70s: The
Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
 Cher found solo chart success
with her first #1, "Gypsies, Tramps
& Thieves" and released the LP, Gypsys,
Tramps And Thieves.
The single "Gypsies, Tramps
& Thieves" was certified gold.
Cher released Foxy Lady.
 Cher had her 2nd solo #1 single
with "Half-Breed" from the LP, Half-Breed.
The single
"Half-Breed" was certified gold.
 Cher topped the charts once
again with the single "Dark Lady"
which was certified gold and released her
first hits collection, Greatest
Hits.
Half-Breed was certified gold.
The LPs, Bittersweet White
Light and Dark Lady, were
released during the year.
 By 1975, Sonny and Cher had
divorced and Cher's musical career slowed
with the release of Stars. Cher
could be found on television again with her
own variety show, Cher, which lasted
a year, and signed on with Warner Brothers
Records.
Cher married Gregg
Allman 4 days after her divorce from
Sonny was finalized.
Cher released I'd Rather
Believe In You.
 Sonny and Cher reunited on
television once again in the short-lived
variety show, The Sonny & Cher Show.
Cher released her collaboration
with Gregg Allman, Allman
& Woman: Two The Hard Way and the LP
Cherished.
 By 1979, Cher had married and
divorced Allman, and returned to the Top 10
with the comeback dance hit "Take Me
Home" from the LP, Take
Me Home.
The single "Take Me
Home" and LP Take
Me Home were certified gold.
Cher released Prisoner.
 Cher continued in the 1980s as a
member of the rock band, Black Rose,
which didn't last long but resulted in I
Paralyze released in 1982. The band, the
LP, and to some extent Cher's new rock image
had been panned by rock critics.
Cher redirected her career from
music to acting and appeared on Broadway in Come
Back To The 5 And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy
Dean (and appeared in the film version).
 Cher's acting career couldn't
help but be taken seriously with her
performance as Meryl Streep's lesbian
roommate in Silkwood which resulted in a
Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award
nomination.
Cher found success critically
and commercially with her role as the mom in Mask.
 # 193
Singles Artist of the Year
Cher could be seen in the
successful films, The
Witches Of Eastwick and Suspect.
 Cher turned her focus on music
again with the Geffen Records release, Cher. She was back on the
pop charts with the hits "I Found
Someone" (written and produced by Michael
Bolton) and "We All Sleep
Alone" (co-written by Jon Bon Jovi).
 # 36
Singles Artist of the Year
 Cher starred in the critically
acclaimed Moonstruck and won an Academy
Award as Best Actress.
Cher was certified gold.
The video for "I Found
Someone" was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Female Video.
 # 13
Singles Artist of the Year
Cher had a hit duet with Peter
Cetera with "After All" from the film Chances
Are.
Cher hit the Top 10 with Peter
Cetera with "After All."
 "After All" was certified
gold.
Cher released Heart
Of Stone and had hits with
"If I Could Turn Back
Time"
and "Just Like Jesse James." The LP became
Cher's first multi-million seller with sales
topping 3 million in the U.S.
Cher hit the Top 40 with "If I Could Turn Back
Time."
Heart
Of Stone was certified gold and the
single "If I Could Turn Back
Time"
was certified gold.
Cher hit the Top 10 with "If I Could Turn Back
Time."
Heart
Of Stone was certified platinum.
Cher hit the Top 40 with "Just Like Jesse James."
Cher hit the Top 10 with "Just Like Jesse James."
 # 80
Singles Artist of the Year
 Cher could be seen in Mermaids and hit the charts
with her remake of "The Shoop Shoop Song
(It's In His Kiss)."
Cher hit the Top 40 with "Heart Of Stone."
Heart
Of Stone was certified 2x platinum.
 # 45
Singles Artist of the Year
 Cher released Love
Hurts and hit the Top 40 with "Love
And Understanding" and later with "Save Up All Your Tears."
Love
Hurts was certified gold.
Cher hit the Top 40 with "Save Up All Your Tears."
 # 145
Singles Artist of the Year
Cher was certified
platinum.
Cher topped the UK Singles chart
with Chrissie
Hynde, Neneh Cherry
and Eric
Clapton for a week with "Love Can
Build A Bridge."
 # 149
Singles Artist of the Year
 A hit compilation from Cher's
time with Casablanca Records was released: The
Casablanca Years.
Cher found praise with her turn
as a director for HBO's If
These Walls Could Talk.
 Cher released It's
A Man's World and had a moderate dance hit
with her remake of "Walking In
Memphis."
Cher hit the Top 40 with "One By One."
Cher talked publicly for the
first time about her daughter as a lesbian.
At a National Coming Out Day rally, Cher
stated: "I was very un-Cher-like in my
acceptance of my daughter's choice."
 # 181
Singles Artist of the Year
 Cher was in the
public eye once again when her ex-husband,
Sonny Bono, died from a skiing accident.
Coverage of Bono's funeral often included
Cher's emotional eulogy saying goodbye to the
man she credits for making her what she is
today.
The GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards
honored more individuals in Los Angeles
including Cher with the Vanguard Award. Cher
said of the honor: "I feel like the gay
poster girl.. Chasity, are sufficiently proud
of me now? ...I'm really proud of you guys,
and from the bottom of my heart, thank
you." The award is traditionally
presented to those artists that have promoted
equal rights for gays. Cher said of the
honor: "The reason this award from GLAAD
means so much to me is because I'm being
honored by the gay community, a group of
people who have stood by me and my career
through thick and thin."
 Heart
Of Stone was certified 3x platinum.
Cher began an unexpected
comeback with the release of Believe and a book, The
First Time. The track "Believe" became an
instant hit in England topping the UK Singles
chart for 7 weeks, and was making waves in
the U.S. by the end of the year.
 Cher hit the Top 40 with "Believe" and also topped
the Billboard Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 21
weeks and the Billboard Dance Music Club Play
chart for 5 weeks.
 # 11
Singles Artist of the Year
 Cher sang the
National Anthem at the Super Bowl.
Bittersweet
- Love Song Collection (a collection of
prerecorded love songs and standards) was
released.
Believe was certified platinum
and the single "Believe" was certified
platinum.
Cher hit the Top
10 and
then #1
for 5 weeks with "Believe."
 Cher released If
I Could Turn Back Time - Cher's Greatest Hits which
included the new track, "Don't Come
Cryin' To Me."
"Believe" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks, the Billboard
Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for 4 weeks, and
the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart for 5
weeks.
The home video, If I Could
Turn Back Time - The Videos was
released.
Cher could be seen on VH1 as
part of VH1
Divas Live '99 and on the LP singing live
versions of "Proud Mary" and "If I Could Turn Back
Time."
Believe was certified 2x
platinum.
Cher hit the Top 40 with "Strong
Enough"
which topped the Billboard Club Play chart
for a week.
Ranked # 43 on VH1: 100
Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.
Believe was certified 3x
platinum.
 Cher appeared Live
In Concert on HBO from Las Vegas.
Cher was nominated for
2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Dance Video and Best Editing ("Believe").
Cher starred in
Tea
With Mussolini.
Cher topped the Billboard Club
Play chart with "All Or Nothing."
The
Advocate named Cher as one of the '25
Coolest Women.'
Believe was certified 4x
platinum.
Cher ended the year with the #1
Billboard Hot 100 Single for 1999 with "Believe."
Cher topped the Billboard
Year-End Chart-Toppers as the Top Hot Dance
Club-Play Artist, Top Hot Dance Maxi-Singles
Sales Artist, and with the Top Hot 100
Single, Top Hot 100 Single Sales, Top Hot
Dance Club-Play Single, and Top Hot Dance
Maxi-Single Sales (Believe).
Cher was
nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite
Adult Contemporary Artist.
Cher topped the
infamous yearly "Worst Dressed
Women" list with the description "a
million beads and 1 overexposed
derriere."
If
I Could Turn Back Time - Cher's Greatest Hits was certified gold.
Cher won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording ("Believe") and was
nominated for Record of the Year and and Best
Pop Album (Believe).
Cher was awarded Favorite Female
Artist, Pop at the Blockbuster Awards.
Cher was honored at the World
Music Awards with the Lifelong Contribution
to the Music Industry award.
Cher's HBO concert, Live
In Concert, was nominated for 3 Emmy
Awards.
VH1: 100
Greatest Dance Songs includes Cher's "Believe" at # 60.
Cher took time off from
recording her new LP to lend her support
towards presidential candidate Al Gore - or
more accurately her distain for his opponent:
"Has everyone lost their ____ing minds?
Doesn't anybody remember the illustrious
Reagan-Bush years when people had no money
and no jobs?"
Cher released an Internet-only
LP, not.com.mercial, with 8 tracks
she describes as personal. Cher wrote 6 of
the tracks.
Cher guest starred on the TV
show Will & Grace.
VH1: 100
Greatest Videos includes:
# 49
- "If I Could Turn Back
Time."
The Cher Mattel doll hit stores
after being previewed on Will & Grace
last November.
 # 45
Singles Artist of the Year
 Cher hit the
Top 40 with "(This Is) A Song For
The Lonely."
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