Cher (singer) (original) (raw)

Cher (born May 20, 1946), is a well-known actress and singer. Born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, she became famous as one of the rock and roll duo "Sonny and Cher", the other half being her first husband, Sonny Bono, who later became a politician (mayor of Palm Springs, California and a member of the United States House of Representatives). Cher and Bono were divorced in 1975, and she married again, this time to rock and roll singer Gregg Allman, a member of the Allman Brothers Band. She has two children, Chastity Bono and Elijah Blue Allman.

Cher made the change from her singing career into a successful acting career, starring in films including Silkwood, Mask, Suspect, Moonstruck (for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988), and Mermaids. Her ability to reinvent herself has allowed her to continue performing and creating successful recordings for more than 35 years. One xception was her alternative-rock album entitled "Not.Commercial (pronounced "Not Dot Com Mercial"). The album was written after a retreat to a poetry class in France; it was rejected by record labels and Cher chose to sell it on her website, with limited success.