Cher reflects on life, fame, and artistic inspirations in a new memoir, revealing key moments and revelations from her childhood in foster care to her early career with Sonny Bono, encounters with Phil Spector and Warren Beatty, and advice to Tina Turner.
Cher’s Memoir: Key Moments and Revelations
Childhood and Foster Care
Cher was placed in foster care as a child after being abandoned by her father.
Early Career and Marriage to Sonny Bono
She met Sonny Bono at 16 and had an unofficial wedding ceremony in 1964. They had a hit variety show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, which debuted in 1971.
Cher encountered a controlling contract with Sonny that essentially made her his employee and stiffed her out of her earnings.
Phil Spector and Other Notable Encounters
Cher worked with Phil Spector on several projects, including a John Lennon album. She also had a storied history with Warren Beatty and was once pulled a gun by him.
She fired back at Phil Spector after he picked up a revolver and began twirling it in front of her.
Advice to Tina Turner
Tina Turner asked Cher for advice on how to leave Ike, and Cher advised her to simply walk out and keep going. Turner soon did just that.
Acting Career
As a teenager, Cher had studied acting professionally, but her dreams of a Hollywood career in the 70s went nowhere.
Producers saw her as ‘Too old, too ethnic, too tall, too typecast’, insisting that she belonged in TV comedy.
Francis Ford Coppola encouraged her to pursue acting.
