cher tour 2023 sweden

ABOUT THE CHER SHOW

Her Life. Her Music. Her Legend. Superstars come and go. Cher is forever. For six straight decades, only one unstoppable force has flat-out dominated popular culture – breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries and letting nothing and no one stand in her way. THE CHER SHOW is the Tony Award®-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the icon.

THE CHER SHOW is 35 smash hits, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy®, an Oscar®, an Emmy®, and enough Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequin shortage in New York City, all in one unabashedly fabulous new musical that will have audiences dancing in the aisles!

THE HOBBY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Pikes peak center for the performing arts, denver center for the performing arts, harris center for the arts, mount baker theatre, the capitol theatre, first interstate center for the arts, starlight theatre, orpheum theatre, peoria civic center theater, stranahan theater, tobin center for the performing arts, the buddy holly hall of performing arts & sciences, curran theatre, the beat goes on.

2024-2025 TOUR DATES COMING SOON!

CATHERINE ARIALE

Morgan scott.

(Lady) She/Her. Catherine is over the moon to be making her national tour debut with The Cher Show ! Credits: The Waiting (Margot), Sunday in the Park with George (Yvonne), Memphis (Gladys). Pace MT. All my love to Mom, Dad, Austin, and Jill.

(Babe) is beyond excited to be going on her first tour with The Cher Show ! She recently earned her BFA in Musical Theatre from SUNY Cortland this past May. Recent credits include Proof (Catherine), Cabaret (Emcee), and Company (Amy). Endless love to her family and friends for supporting and believing in her- she would not have the guts to be here without you. Thank you to the entire cast and creative team for making this possible, and thank you to Cher for being Cher.

(Star) is both thrilled and humbled to embody the icon that is CHER. Favorite credits: Doctor ( Next to Normal ), Baker’s Wife ( Into the Woods ), Gina ( REWIND ); along with bandleading and audiobook narration. Her cup runneth over with gratitude for her family, friends, Nick, Uisge and BBB. @mscott3

MIKE BINDEMAN

Tyler pirrung, lorenzo pugliese, lucy werner, emma alteri, michelle arotsky, neftali benitez, charles blaha, gary paul bowman, emma jade branson, kevin michael buckley, samantha butts, alloria frayser, jordan gold, nathan hoty, tre kanaley, mason derreck lewis, grace napoletano.

(Gregg Allman/John Southall) National Tour Debut! Regional: The Lightning Thief (Playhouse Square), The Rocky Horror Show (Bucks County Playhouse), Grease (Argyle Theatre), Ghost (Beck Center for the Arts), Mamma Mia , Something Rotten, Kinky Boots (Forestburgh Playhouse), among others. BWMT ‘23. Rep: HCKR. IG: @mike_bindeman

(Bob Mackie/Robert Altman/Frank) is ecstatic to be making his national tour debut! Some favorite credits: Elf (Buddy – Arizona Broadway Theatre), Jersey Boys (Bob Gaudio – Little Theatre on the Square), Spamalot (Historian – City Springs Theatre Co.), Cabaret (Emcee – Glow Lyric Theatre). Much love to his friends and family for their endless support and to Jim and the MTA fam! IG: @tylerpirrung

(Sonny Bono) is pumped to be on tour again! Prior credits include the first national tour of The SpongeBob Musical (SpongeBob SquarePants). As a 5’5 Italian man himself, he finds it fairly easy to pretend to be one on stage. Massive thanks to family and friends. IG: lorenzo_m_pugliese

(Georgia Holt/Lucille Ball, u/s Star) is a singer, songwriter, and performing artist dwelling in Brooklyn. After graduating from Elon University she traveled all over the US and Asia with the First National Tour of Annie as Lily St. Regis. She has since spent her time performing her self produced solo shows all over the world on various cruise lines. Listen to her original music on all streaming platforms under her name, as well as a brand new cover of ‘I Got You Babe’ with her band The Astroband! She is so grateful for her most loving and supportive family and coolest boyfriend – you are the Hunny to my Lu! I love you guys. @theastroband @lucyannthesky

(Ensemble, Bridget, u/s Babe) National tour debut! Regional: Bright Star (Margo), The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Pickles), Saturday Night Fever (Stephanie u/s), Escape to Margaritaville . Love and gratitude to the fam & the team. BA: Wagner College. emmaalteri.com / @emmaalteri

(Ensemble, Girl Group, Female ET Reporter, u/s Dark Lady, Dance Captain) is thrilled to be making her National Tour debut in The Cher Show . Select credits include: Guys and Dolls (ACT of Connecticut), Rock of Ages (ACCC), Matilda (The Engeman Theatre), Newsies (The LEX), and Elf: The Musical (Syracuse Stage). BFA Syracuse University. Endless love and gratitude to my family and friends! IG: @michelle_arotsky

(Ensemble, Dave Clark Five, Bob Mackie’s Assistant) (he/him) is incredibly honored to be making his Broadway Nat’l tour debut!! Other credits include: We’ll Meet Again (Tour), AIDAmar (Cruise), Guys and Dolls (Regional) and Grumpy Old Men (Regional). He thanks his family and friends profusely for their continued support! | http://www.neftalibenitez.com // Insta: @neffybear

(Ensemble, Infomercial Director/Digby the Writer, Dave Clark Five, u/s Rob Camilleti) is proud to be making his national tour debut. Charles recently graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in MT. Credits include Cabaret (Hans – Virginia Theatre Festival), Pippin (ensemble), Carrie (ensemble). Sending love to my family and friends back in New York IG: @charles.blaha <3

(Ensemble, Rob Camilletti, Dave Clark Five, u/s Gregg Allman/John Southall, u/s Sonny Bono) is elated to be a part of his 2nd national tour after wrapping up his debut in Madagascar the Musical (First National – Alex the Lion). REGIONAL: John W. Engeman Theater ( Kinky Boots, Rock of Ages ). The Media Theater ( Aspects of Love, RENT ). TV: Oxygen, Travel Channel, ID Network. Love and thanks to CPM Talent Management, my family, the fellas, and Casey. IG: @gary_bowman

(Ensemble, Dark Lady) National Tour Debut! Proud Eastern Washington native and alumnus of Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Emma toured domestically and internationally with Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Thank you to the entire casting team for this opportunity! All my love and thanks to Mom, Dad, and Luke for their endless support. Kisses to Rafa and Rosie! IG: @emmabranson

(Ensemble, Phil Spector/Sid the Censor/Male ET Reporter, Dave Clark Five, u/s Sonny Bono) is thrilled to be making his national tour debut. In addition to acting, he writes/produces his own pop music as ‘Kev!’ on all streaming platforms. Some credits include: The Cher Show (Gateway Playhouse), Guys & Dolls (Theatre Aspen), & The Wizard of Oz (Vital Theatre). Thank you to my family, friends, teachers, and agents at UIA. Congratulations to the entire cast, crew, and creative team.

(Ensemble) is thrilled to be making her national tour debut. Credits: Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Rockette), Destiny Of Desire (Assistant Choreographer – The Old Globe Theater), Women On Fire (Ensemble – Royal Family Productions) Love to her amazing parents Wendy and Erik!

(Swing, u/s Georgia Holt/Lucille Ball) is thrilled to be joining her first national tour! Regional credits include: The Prom (WPPAC), White Christmas (NBFT), Jersey Boys (SSMT). BA, SUNY Cortland. Endless love to my friends and family! inhale confidence, exhale doubt. IG@lizzdavviss

(Ensemble, Studio Singer) is unbelievably honored to be making her national tour debut with The Cher Show ! Recent credits include The Color Purple (Nettie), White Christmas (Rita), and Beautiful the Carole King Musical (Shirelle). Her love and gratitude goes to her family, friends, reps at The Price Group, and her cat, Lucy. CCM MT c/o 23 Eccl. 3:12.  alloriafrayser.com  <3

(Ensemble, Studio Singer, u/s Lady) National tour debut! Thank you to Mom and Dad, family, friends, and mentors for your unwavering support and love. Credits: Rent (Maureen Johnson), All Shook Up (Miss Sandra). All my love to my alma mater, Montclair State University (BFA Musical Theatre). Proudly represented by The Collective Talent Agency. @jordan.gold www.jordangold.me

(Swing, u/s Bob Mackie/Robert Altman/Frank, Assistant Dance Captain) (They/ Them) is overjoyed to make their Broadway National Tour debut! Credits: Waiting in the Wings (Off-Broadway), We’ll Meet Again (Tour), worked with Jimmy Buffett (Cruise) and Train (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). Thank you to their fam at Bloc, their Parents and Grandma! TikTok/Insta: @nathanhoty

(Ensemble, Dave Clark Five, Steve the Scribe, u/s Rob Camilletti, u/s Gregg Allman/John Southall) is excited to make his National Tour debut. Credits: Annie Get Your Gun (Tommy – Jackson Hole Playhouse), Elf the musical (Ensemble – Argyle Theatre), Bring it On! (Cameron – SSA). He would like to thank his Mom and Dad, All family, Thomas, Kaelin, Brett, Corinne, and Mrs. P! IG- kanaley_22

(Ensemble, Studio Singer, Girl Group, u/s Lady) is super grateful to be turning back time with you! Selected credits: Bat Out of Hell (Las Vegas Residency- Dance Captain), Roxstar (@ roxstarvegas), Newsies (Hannah, U/S Katherine), Tuacahn Amphitheater Broadway Season, Something Rotten! (Regional Premiere- MT West, 5 Star Theatricals). Love to my 3 M’s & Nonnie always. “Just do it!” drewhaleylake.com @idrewalake

(Ensemble, Lee/Top of the Pops Host, u/s Bob Mackie/Robert Altman/Frank) is stoked to be on the road with Cher ! Credits: Pippin (National Tour – Manson Trio, Pippin & Lewis u/s), Mary Poppins (City Springs Theater), singer/dancer with Norwegian Creative Studios. Endless love to Stephen and Tucker! Rep: MTA @masondlewis

(Ensemble, Colleen, u/s Babe) is over the moon to be making her National Tour debut! She is a recent graduate of the University of Northern Colorado (BFA in Musical Theatre, May 2023). Credits include: RENT (Maureen Johnson, UNCO), Head Over Heels (Mopsa, TheatreSilco), The Laramie Project (Barbara Pitts, UNCO). @gracenapoletano, gracenapoletano.com

CREATIVE TEAM

CASEY HUSHION (Director) Broadway: Associate Director of Mean Girls ; Aladdin ; The Prom ; Elf ; In the Heights ; The Drowsy Chaperone ; To Be or Not to B e, Good Vibrations . New York: Call Me Madam (City Center Encores), Fat Camp . Television: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt . Artistic Director of North Carolina Theatre 2009-2019. Recent regional credits include world premieres of the new musicals Joy and Mystic Pizza. Upcoming: Clue (National Tour) and Beautiful at Paper Mill Playhouse. Love to Marc and her three kids, Lincoln, Violet, and Jane. www.caseyhushion.com

ANTOINETTE DIPIETROPOLO (Choreographer) Officially the first choreographer in the country of Saudi Arabia. Choreographer, Fame US Tour; Annie , Muny; Candide , starring George Hearn, Rita Moreno, San Francisco Opera; Big Apple Circus In NYC; As Director/Choreographer Ragtime , Lyric Stage (nominated in 14 categories for the Theatre League Awards); Ragtime, North Carolina Theatre, (Winner Best Choreographer, Triangle Theatre Award); Legally Blonde , Mamma Mia , Hairspray , Argyle Theater; Jersey Boys WPPAC; Director, US Tour MasterChef Live; International Tour of Got Talent Live www.AntoinetteDiPietropolo.com follow me @antoinettedip

BOB MACKIE (Original Broadway and Tour Costume Design) Costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie is a nine- time Emmy Award winner, Geoffrey Beene CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and has three Oscar nominations. Most recently he received a 2019 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his work on The Cher Show . His Broadway credits include Moon Over Buffalo and Putting It Together , starring Carol Burnett, Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public , Minelli on Minelli , Lorelei with Carol Channing, and On the Town with Bernadette Peters and Phyllis Newman. Broadway on television: “Once Upon a Mattress” starring Carol Burnett, “Gypsy” starring Bette Midler, “Carousel,” “Brigadoon,” “Of Thee I Sing,” and “Kismet.” His inventive and memorable designs have helped raise entertainers like Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Cher, Elton John, Ann-Margret, Bernadette Peters, Mitzi Gaynor, Carol Burnett, Bette Midler, Pink, and Cher to iconic status both onscreen and off.

KELLY JAMES TIGHE (Set Design and Co-Video Design) Off-Broadway/national tours: Martin Luther on Trial, Shadowlands , The Most Reluctant Convert , The Great Divorce , The Fantasticks , Almost Heaven , Movin’ Out , Shear Madness, Cats.. . Regional: Disney Theatrical, Paper Mill Playhouse, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, Center REPertory Company, SlowBurn Theater, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, TUTS, Gateway Playhouse, Broadway By the Bay, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Ray of Light Theatre. Kelly’s theatrical work is published in the textbook Scene Design and Stage Lighting and his work as an illustrator has been published in Mooseltoe, A Moose and a Dream . Awards/recognitions: SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, DramaLogue, and Shellie Awards. IG: kellyjtighe web: kjtdesign.com

CHARLIE MORRISON (Lighting Design) NYC/National/International tours: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, A Chorus Line, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Miss Saigon, Disney’s Aida, The Producers, Man of La Mancha, Guys and Dolls, Groovaloo, Hello, Dolly!, My Fair Lady, The King and I, Spelling Bee, Gypsy, 42nd Street, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, The Who’s Tommy, Titanic, The Music Man and many others. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Goodspeed Musicals, Seattle Repertory, Seattle 5th Avenue, Broadway Sacramento, Theatre Under the Stars, Dallas Summer Musicals, Kansas City Starlight, Pittsburgh CLO, George Street Playhouse, North Carolina Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory, Tulsa Opera and many others. TV: “Finding Magic Mike” for HBOMax. Charlie is the recipient of two Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Lighting Design. www.cmlighting.com

JONATHAN INFANTE (Video Design ) Jonathan Infante is a multi-media designer and artist based out of Southern California. Owner of Infante Media, a boutique production company, that has developed video content for television, film, museums, concert tours, plays, and musicals around the world. He thanks his family and friends for their continued support. Most recent credits: Disney’s Tarzan the Musical (Moonlight) The Revolutionist, Legally Blonde 2022/23 US National Tour, An American in Paris / South Pacific 2022 Tour, and Dreamgirls 2020 Asia Tour. Regional Credits: Shrek (3D-T), Matilda (Tuachan), Prince Of Egypt (Tuacahn), Beauty and the Beast (MRE), Newsies (Moonlight), Big Fish (Moonlight), Mary Poppins (MRE), Damn Yankees (Sacramento Music Circus) American Idiot (LMT).

DANIEL LUNDBERG (Sound Design) Daniel has designed for Roundabout Theatre Company, The Public Theater, New York Stage and Film, The REV, A Contemporary Theatre of Connecticut, His Story (Dallas), and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live (Tour). Sound engineer and assistant design credits include 15 Broadway productions, 11 tours, six circuses, two theme parks, and many concerts. BFA Carnegie Mellon. It’s great to be here!

KRISTIN STOWELL (Music Supervisor) Kristin Stowell is a music director, pianist, composer, arranger, copyist, and educator based in Washington, D.C. Recent credits include music directing the world premieres of On Cedar Street (Berkshire Theatre Group) and Mystic Pizza (Ogunquit Playhouse), and the regional premiere of The Cher Show (Ogunquit Playhouse). Her original award-winning musical Endometriosis: The Musical was featured in the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Kristin currently serves on the musical theatre faculty at American University.

EDDIE CARNEY (Music Director) Beginning his career at the age of fourteen, Eddie’s credits span the musical theatre gamut from Show Boat to Chicago to Shrek the Musical . Tours: Legally Blonde (MD ’22-’23/AMD 2019), A Chorus Line (AMD – Tokyo 2022), South Pacific (MD), An American in Paris (MD), Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! the Musical (AMD). Other: Mamma Mia!, Caroline or Change, Hairspray, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Urinetown, Ragtime, La Cage aux Folles . Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Excellence in Music Direction: Sunday in the Park with George ad Richard Taylor’s Whistle Down the Wind . Accompanied platinum-recording artist Josh Groban and Tony Award-winner Daisy Eagan in NYC. Outside of the pit, Eddie is a Britney Spears aficionado, drops his jaw watching Real Housewives, and predicts Rupaul’s Drag Race winners with his fiancé. Dedicated to Preston, Mom, and Dad. “Art in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.” -Stephen Sondheim

ALISON FRANCK (Casting Director) ALISON FRANCK, C.S.A. (Casting Director) has been a casting director in NYC for over 25 years. She started as an assistant for many Broadway Productions, then she worked in film/TV for several years, then from 2000- 2010, she was the Resident Casting Director at Paper Mill Playhouse. In 2011 she joined the team at Liz Lewis Casting Partners, where she cast commercials, voiceovers, film/TV, and theatre. Alison now runs her own company, Franck Casting, where she has cast several tours of well-known musicals including Legally Blonde, Dreamgirls, An American in Paris, A Christmas Story: The Musical, A Chorus Line, The Simon and Garfunkel Story Live and Little Women, the Musical , now on tour. www.franckcasting.com

BIG LEAGUE PRODUCTIONS/DANIEL SHER (Producer) is celebrating its 30th season of producing and general managing Broadway tours of shows and attractions throughout the world. Early highlights were collaborations with Disney on Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida (US Tours, Taiwan, and China) and with Cameron Mackintosh on a new production of Miss Saigon . Also, the Tony®-Award winning Broadway revival of 42nd Street and Susan Stroman’s Broadway production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man . Others: Footloose (Las Vegas, US Tour), Titanic, 1776, Peter Pan, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Rip Taylor, Blast!, The Who’s Tommy (US Tour, South America, Europe, and Japan), Ain’t Misbehavin’ with Ruben Studdard, and the First National Tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – flying car and all. More recent: The Producers (Susan Stroman’s original work), Hello, Dolly! with Sally Struthers, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady (US Tour and China premiere), original hip-hop dance show Groovaloo (Off-Broadway), Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musica l (10 US Tours, Grand Ole Opry, and Madison Square Garden), Dreamgirls (US Tour, China premiere, Japan), Hair (US Tour and Japan), Bring it On (US Tour and Japan), and Legally Blonde (US Tours, China premiere, Singapore). More recently, A Chorus Line toured the US and Japan, and was seen in China for the first time. Post-pandemic, Big League remounted its acclaimed tour o f An American in Paris , a new production of South Pacific, Legally Blonde , and continued touring its flagship production of A Christmas Story The Musical . Current work includes The Cher Show national tour and a new touring production of Little Women . Future work includes a new touring production of The Addams Family .

THE CHER SHOW is presented through special arrangement with Broadway Licensing Global, 440 Park Avenue South, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016, www.broadwaylicensing.com.

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About the Show

Music icon turned Hollywood royalty, the Grammy®, Oscar®, Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning Queen of re-invention has conquered it all. It’s now time to turn back time with this fiercely fabulous kick-ass new musical, from the writer of Jersey Boys.

The Cher Show tells the incredible story of Cher’s meteoric rise to fame, flying in the face of convention at every turn. This HUGE new production features a fresh take on her show-stopping costumes which earned her the title of "the ruler of outré reinvention" (VOGUE).

In a dazzling glitter fest sparkling with Cher’s signature wit and style, you’ll be spinning in the aisles to the sounds of her biggest hits, including If I Could Turn Back Time, Strong Enough, Gypsies Tramps and Thieves, The Shoop Shoop Song, I Got You Babe, and Believe.

Book now for a joyous party musical fit for the Queen of pop.

Written by Tony award-winning Rick Elice (Jersey Boys), this brand new UK production is directed by Arlene Phillips (Grease, Starlight Express), choreographed by Oti Mabuse (double Strictly Come Dancing winner), with costumes by Tony award-winning Gabriella Slade (Spice World Tour, SIX).

Watch Our Opening Night Trailer

Official Trailer

“All of us invent ourselves. Some of us just have more imagination than others” CHER

Review by Sid Emerson

Christmas is Cher's 27th studio album, released on October 20, 2023. This holiday-themed album features a mix of original songs and classic Christmas covers, showcasing Cher's unique style. It includes collaborations with friends Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Tyga, Darlene Love and Michael Bublé.

"DJ Play a Christmas Song" - 3:29

"What Christmas Means to Me" (with Stevie Wonder) - 2:35

"Run Rudolph Run" - 2:53

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (with Darlene Love) - 2:43

"Angels in the Snow" - 2:52

"Home" (with Michael Bublé) - 3:44

"Drop Top Sleigh Ride" (with Tyga) - 3:20

"Please Come Home for Christmas" - 2:55

"I Like Christmas" - 2:59

"Christmas Ain't Christmas Without You" - 2:55

"Santa Baby" - 3:21

"Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart" (with Cyndi Lauper) - 3:07

"This Will Be Our Year" - 2:14

Stream & Download Every Cher Song Ever Recorded All in One Place. No Ads. No Removals.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Cher: ‘My life seems to be longer than any other human being ever’

The 77-year-old superstar discusses her Christmas album, being undervalued in her early career and what she’ll do if Trump gets elected again

C her thinks she may have just made history. “My life seems to be longer than any other human being ever,” she said. “I feel like I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for this. And I’m still going!”

In fact, at 77, with a six-decade career behind her, Cher is still finding new ways to express herself. This week she’ll release her first Christmas album, something that has long struck her as a cynical cliche. “Everyone has done one,” she said by phone from her home in Los Angeles with a perceivable eyeroll. “So, when my manager called and said, ‘We’d like you to do this,’ my immediate answer was ‘No!’ He said, ‘Just think about it.’ So, I sat down and thought, ‘What can I do that’s different?’”

The answer, it turned out, is a holiday album “that doesn’t scream ‘Christmas’ every second and isn’t filled with songs you know by name”, she said. In fact, half the songs are new, including the catchy dance track, DJ, Play a Christmas Song, which evokes a night that’s anything but silent. Other cuts on the album are wholly unexpected, like a cover of the Zombies’ rapturous This Will Be Our Year, from their 1968 cult masterpiece Odessey and Oracle. “More than anything, I wanted this album to be fun,” Cher said.

And why not? Fun has been Cher’s brand ever since she broke through with Sonny on their bubbly 1965 song I Got You Babe. At the same time, fun, for Cher, isn’t just about pleasure. It’s also about survival. During the many dry stretches in her career, and the long years when critics saw her as a joke, Cher always found a way to have the last laugh by embracing the most garish aspects of her career – the over-the-top costumes, the self-satirizing gestures, the songs like Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves – while simultaneously delivering performances of genuine distinction, passion and pluck. In conversation, Cher reflects all those sides. For more than an hour, she spoke about everything from her goofy, 1964 debut single Ringo, I Love You to the sad litany of anti-trans legislation that has been proposed in the United States in the last year.

Even her new album has a deeper context than it may first seem. It finds an emotional high point in a cover of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), which originally appeared on the classic Phil Spector Christmas Album in 1963, with Darlene Love on lead vocals, and a 17-year-old Cher wailing behind. Now, 60 years later, she and Love perform the song as a duet. “I hate it when people say, ‘I remember it like it was yesterday,’” Cher said of the original sessions, “but I actually do. I can see Darlene singing full-tilt boogie right in the room, not even in a booth, and me, Sonny and the other backup singers standing around one mike that was hanging down. It seems so archaic now, but it worked.”

At least it did eventually. While the album went on to become one of the holiday’s most beloved soundtracks, it had the bad fortune to be released on the same day President John F Kennedy was assassinated, blunting its initial impact. “We had been working like crazy on that album,” Cher said. “I kept thinking, I’m only 17 and I’m exhausted, what are these other people doing?’ What I didn’t realize then was they were all doing drugs! The day of the release I remember I was in bed with Sonny and the telephone rang and it was Phil, and I knew by the look on Sonny’s face that something terrible had happened. I was pretty sure somebody died but I was thinking it was somebody in our group. Then Sonny turned to me and said, ‘The president’s dead.’ And I just got hysterical.”

By then, Cher had already been a regular player in Spector’s sessions. Sonny was working for him and brought her in for the Ronettes’ Be My Baby. “The big joke was that I had to stand far back from the other singers,” said Cher. “Phil would say, ‘Cher, take a step back. And another step. And another.’ At that point, everybody said, ‘If she takes one more step, she’ll be in Studio B!’ Somehow, my voice just cut through.”

Because of her distinctive tone, Spector decided to use Cher, as well as Sonny, on a host of recordings, including the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, where she provided the lone female backing vocal. By that time Spector’s weirder side was starting to show. Yet even a teenage Cher was well-equipped to handle it. “Phil asked me, in French, if I would have sex with him,” she said. “And I said, in French, ‘Yes - for money .’ He almost fell off his chair. He didn’t expect that from anyone.”

Her tart response put him on notice to watch himself around her, though he still asked her to do sketchy things. “I was supposed to watch Ronnie, Nedra and Estelle [the Ronettes] and report back to him. I said, ‘No fucking way!’ I wasn’t going to nark on these girls. They were my friends.”

Ronnie got it the worst. “Phil was a pig when it came to her,” Cher said.

Even so, she said that, in the studio, Spector wasn’t that crazy at the time. “He was eccentric,” she said, “but not full-on nuts.”

Spector wound up producing Cher’s first solo song, a Beatles exploitation piece called Ringo, I Love You, which she cut under the name Bonnie Joe Mason. Radio stations refused to play it because, due to her low, contralto voice, they thought she was a guy singing a love song to the Beatles’ drummer. Did Cher care about the snub? “Not at all. It wasn’t a very good song anyway,” she said, “and Phil didn’t even want to do it. He wanted me to stay in my place and not do a solo thing.”

Regardless, the next year Sonny and Cher went out on their own, initially under the name Caesar & Cleo. “We were such a bizarre combination,” Cher said. “I was a terrible singer at first and Sonny was a frightenin g singer. But he was a good songwriter.”

He proved it after they became Sonny & Cher and he wrote I Got You Babe. “He brought it to me in the middle of the night and, with him singing it, it sounded horrible,” she said. “When I first sang it, it didn’t sound that much better. But Sonny didn’t care. He knew what he had.”

Eventually, the song went to No 1 in the US but the couple first found success in England, where, over the years, Cher has enjoyed more consistent success than she has at home. “In America, we were getting beaten up for the way we looked,” she said. “We had to go to London where people understood us and respected us. England has been lucky for me more than once.”

In fact, Cher’s most popular song of all time, Believe, which she cut when she was 52, only came about because of the support of her UK label at a time when her American company had dropped her. To commemorate the Believe album, this month will see the release of an expanded 25th anniversary edition of the set. The title song of the album made history not only for hitting No 1 in over 10 countries, but for being the first of a zillion recordings to use auto-tune as a hook. Later other artists, particularly in hip-hop, began to feature auto-tune on their recordings as not just a hook but as crutch to cover the fact that they can’t sing well. Cher said she had no idea about the latter use until the last few years when Jay-Z came up and told her, “Thanks for keeping my friends in work!”

It was Cher’s idea to change the original lyric in Believe to make the character more assertive. “I thought, ‘A girl can be sad in one verse, but she can’t be sad in two verses,’” she said. “I just won’t have it. So, then I thought of the lines, ‘I’ve had time to think it through / and maybe I’m too good for you.’ I should have asked for a writing credit. I was so stupid!”

Believe earned a new life four years ago, when Adam Lambert radically remade it as a devastating ballad at the ceremony where Cher was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor. “That’s one of the greatest vocal performances of any song by anybody,” she said of Lambert’s take, which has earned over 32m YouTube views. “To recreate it so completely with such a beautiful voice, I just thought, ‘Dude, I’m glad you weren’t around when I was doing this!’”

The self-deprecation expressed in that comment echoes Cher’s oft-stated dissatisfaction with her own singing, though she now says her opinion has evolved. “I used to not like Cher, but I’m much more used to her now,” she said. “I think she’s improved.”

In fact, her voice never sounded stronger than it does on the new album. She uses it to great effect on the album’s ecstatic duets, including one with Stevie Wonder on a Motown holiday song from 1967 titled What Christmas Means to Me. The album’s most surprising guest star is Tyga who raps on Drop Top Sleigh Ride. He was brought in by his producer, Alexander Edwards, who Cher has been dating for the last year. At 37, he’s 40 years her junior, which inspired her to tell him early on, “‘Dude, put this on paper. It doesn’t look good.’ Alexander told me, ‘Well, it couldn’t do any harm.’ I don’t know what happened, but we’re together.” She won’t say any more about it. “There are things people get to know and there are things people don’t get to know,” she said.

She’s more forthright when talking, and tweeting, about subjects like the push against trans people that has greatly escalated in this election year. “It’s something like 500 bills they’re trying to pass,” she said. “I was with two trans girls the other night – and of course my own child [Chaz is trans]. I was saying ‘We’ve got to stand together.’ I don’t know what their eventual plan is for trans people. I don’t put anything past them.”

She’s equally horrified by the possibility of Trump regaining power. “I almost got an ulcer the last time,” she said. “If he gets in, who knows? This time I will leave [the country].”

Cher has been tweeting up yet another storm lately about the issues that face Armenians as tensions flair, and a new wave of violence threatens, with its neighbor, Azerbaijan. Cher’s birth father was Armenian and though she didn’t have much of a relationship with him, she later developed a strong identification with that country after a trip she took some years ago to its capital, Yerevan. “When I got there, I thought, ‘Wow, everybody looks like me! How could I not have strong feelings about this?’” she said.

The last year saw a dramatic change in the other side of Cher’s family: her mother died after a sustained period of living in pain. “The doctor said she was never going to get better, and at that point she wasn’t even there,” Cher said. “I was just so happy that we could help her out of the insanity she was living in.”

Her mother got to the age of 96, underscoring the longevity in her daughter’s genes. “My great-aunts were 101 and 104!” Cher said. Which makes her, at 77, a relative toddler. Small wonder, she feels like she still has a lot more to accomplish. “I never thought about getting this old and still having a job!” she said. “Barbra Streisand once asked me, ‘Why are you still working?’ And I said, ‘Because some day I won’t be able to.’ So, for as long as I can work, I will.”

This article was amended on 18 October 2023. Cher’s first single was released under the name Bonnie Jo Mason, not Bobbie Jo Mason as an earlier version said.

Christmas is out on 20 October

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Cher Reveals Plans For New Album, Residency: 'Been Gone Too Long'

By Dani Medina

January 13, 2023

Cher has big plans for 2023!

The " Believe " singer said she's "been gone too long" from singing and revealed her upcoming plans to get back out there. Cher said in a few weeks she will start dancing with Sumayah McRae , a longtime dancer of Cher's, according to her Joffrey Ballet School bio. McRae has performed at three of Cher's residencies, her tours and even in music videos.

Cher, 76, also said she thinks her new residency will start in August. This would mark her fourth residency and her first since 2020. Most recently, the "If I Could Turn Back Time" singer held a residency in Las Vegas, Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, starting in 2017. It was ultimately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"Lets Keep good Thoughts,& KICK ASS," she wrote in the tweet.

A fan replied to her tweet asking about "a new album." Cher replied, "Work'n." A new album would mark Cher's 27th studio album and her first since she released Dancing Queen in 2018.

Ok ,Been Gone Too Long.Singing,..Will Start Dancing With Sumayah In a few wks Think Residency will Start Aug. lets Keep good Thoughts,& KICK ASS — Cher (@cher) January 13, 2023

Work’n — Cher (@cher) January 13, 2023

In more Cher news, she sparked engagement rumors over Christmas when she posted a photo of a massive diamond ring on Twitter. "THERE R NO WORDS, ALEXANDER, A.E.," she captioned the photo of the closed ring case. In a follow-up tweet, she said she "posted this cause his nails are so cool." If the rumors are true, Alexander 'AE' Edwards , 36, would be Cher's third marriage after Greg Allman and Sonny Bono . Cher and AE have been romantically linked since September 2022.

"Congratulations grab happiness with both hands, but have a pre nup too x," one fan commented on her potential engagement.

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Sprint | Chauvigny-du-Perche (39.2 km)

Points at finish, kom sprint | fréteval (1.9 km), kom sprint | savigny-sur-braye (97.7 km), youth day classification, team day classification, race information.

• Date: 14 April 2023
• Start time: 12:08
• Avg. speed winner: 42.325 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 178 km
• Points scale: 2.2.Stage
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• ProfileScore: 42
• Vert. meters: 1594
• Departure: Fréteval
• Arrival: Vendôme
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• Avg. temperature: 9 °C

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