‘I wanted to do it honestly’

On By Littum

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Cher’s life has been so extraordinary, so full of zigzagging career moves and intense loves, that after more than 400 pages of her memoirs, she has only brushed the beginning of her detour from music to a recognized film career.

“Cher: The Memoir, Part One” (released Nov. 19, Harper Collins, 413 pages, $36), packs intricate details into her difficult childhood (her mother was forced to keep Cher in a religious home for children while she worked); her early singing experiences with “natural power” Darlene Love and an unhinged Phil Spector; the emotional roller coaster that was Sonny Bono; and her undying love for Gregg Allman.

Devotees hoping to hear her unique voice – both written and otherwise – delve into “Silkwood,” Gene Simmons, “Moonstruck,” Richie Sambora, “If I could turn back time” video fishing net, Oscarsher incredible resurgence on the charts at age 52 with “Believe” and a Broadway musical whether her life will have to practice patience. Part 2 of Cher’s memoirs will be published in 2025.

“I haven’t even thought about part two,” Cher, 78, tells USA TODAY in a voice that’s at once throaty, whimsical and serious. “I’m a last minute person. I have to drag my feet and this process was tough. Some days I would go, you guys, I have to take a break and the publisher goes, we need that yesterday. And finally they gave it up.”

Cher ‘wanted to do it honestly’ when she wrote her memoir

As expected from someone as divinely indomitable as Cher, her memoir tells of a troubled home life and frequent moves around California and New York. (The audiobook features Cher opening each chapter—she says her dyslexia prevented her from reading more—with Stephanie J. Block, who portrayed her in Broadway’s “The Cher Show,” which handles the rest.)

Cher’s mother, Georgia (who died in 2022 aged 96), worked tirelessly to provide for young Cherilyn and her half-sister, Georganne (known to all as “Gee”) as stepfather John Southall flew in and out of their lives .

Cher is forgiving of the shortcomings of her mother, from whom she developed her love for Dr Pepperand shares plenty of poignant and humorous stories, such as the “drop-dead gorgeous” lothario Warren Beatty who asked her on a date when she was 15. Cher’s mother immediately dismissed the idea, not realizing it was Beatty who asked. When he called the house to ask Georgia for permission to date her daughter, who was nearly a decade younger, “Mom literally melted before my eyes” when she realized who she was talking to, Cher writes.

But, as Cher herself experienced, conjuring up memories is an emotionally difficult task.

“In the beginning I didn’t want to tell (my story),” she says. “But at some point I realized that if you don’t want to tell, give the people their money back. And then I decided I needed to be a lot more honest and forthcoming, and when I first started it really wasn’t bad. “

Cher says she worked with a ghostwriter at the beginning of the process, but decided that “I didn’t need people as much as I thought.” She notes in the book that her recollections are based on memories, and now says that if she had a problem remembering, she would call Gee or Paulette Howell, her best friend of 50 years, for a memory shot.

“I wanted to do it honestly, and I think at the end of the day it is,” she says. “I didn’t give people information. I gave them stories.”

Cher still doesn’t understand her relationship with Sonny Bono

Salvatore Bono entered Cher’s life as a protector and champion, talking her up to his boss, Phil Spector (or Phillip, as Cher refers to him throughout the book), which landed her backing vocalist duties on the Spector-produced 60s- hits, i.a. The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

Bono was “desperate for respect,” as Cher writes, but also dedicated to promoting his solo career.

In the early 70s, as their CBS smash respect, “The Sonny & Cher Show,” wowed viewers with a combination of snappy humor softened by performances from high-profile musical guests and Bob Mackie outfitsBono became more temperamental and unfaithful, in part due to an addiction to Valium and prescription painkillers.

“I don’t know if it was love/hate, but it was rough. It was really, really rough,” Cher says of her relationship with the man she will always be associated with in pop culture. “I didn’t understand him and I was hurt and angry, but it was more hurt because I couldn’t understand why would you do this? And finally, in the last year, I just thought, I don’t think I can do this much longer because it’s killing me.”

The couple, who are parents to Chastity, divorced in 1975, effectively ending their popular TV routine. (Chastity—or Chas as she was called—later transitioned from female to male and legally became Chaz Bono in 2010. With Chaz’s blessing, Cher refers to him as Chas, “the name he went by during the years this book covers .” )

Not long after her divorce, Cher returned to the screen with her own variation, simply called “Cher.” Her written memoir of the “sheer terror” she felt on opening night and her ability to succeed regardless is just one example of the unyielding tenacity that has made her an icon.

But despite Bono’s controlling nature, who died in 1998 after a skiing accident, Cher still has a place in her heart for the man who helped create her career.

“Sonny and my relationship is hard to understand because it’s hard for me to understand. Even though I got angry with him, there was a bond that I couldn’t break. Even after he took all my money. There was that certain thing. It was hero worship. We both aspired to this thing and we loved it so much. But he was a piece of work.”

Cher recalls her enduring love for Gregg Allman

Cher is much more sympathetic in her writing about Allman, whom she met when she attended his concert at the Troubadour in Los Angeles with Paulette. Cher was unfamiliar with The Allman Brothers’ music, but Paulette was a fan, so she followed the show. Allman spotted her and sent his right-hand man, Chank Middleton, to give her a note that began: “Dear Enchanting Lady.”

“Oh my God, I was so into Gregory,” she says, the tone of her voice noticeably changing. “I loved him so much and he was so wonderful. He was this amazing man who happened to be a heroin addict.” She pauses and then laughs ruefully, “I guess you can’t have everything.”

But, Cher continues, Allman, who died in 2017 of liver cancer, was “really amazing and sweet,” but his drug use spurred the end of their marriage after three years and the birth of son Elijah Blue.

Although both her husbands were tortured by drug addiction, Cher never had an interest in illegal drugs.

“I didn’t see the fun in it. I remember calling my doctor once and asking, ‘Can you die from a hangover?’ Drugs were boring to me. People on coke want to talk your ear off,” she says. “Gregory was a pretty intelligent man, but sometimes he couldn’t to put things together because of drugs. He was handsome. We used to lie in bed and he would play his guitar.”

Cher is preparing the ‘best songs’ she has ever recorded

As Cher enters another era, she’s ecstatic to share that she’s working on a new album with “some of the best songs I’ve ever had — and I don’t use that word lightly because I’m a snob, when it comes to music.”

Her current beau, music executive Alexander Edwards, 38, shepherded her 2023 Christmas album, “Christmas,” which features longtime friends Cyndi Lauper and Darlene Love as well as rapper Tyga and crooner Michael Bublé, and serves as her muse with her upcoming material.

She recently received a belated induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (singing with “funny” Dua Lipa was a highlight, she says) and gave a speech that hammered home her “never give up” ethos. It’s an attitude she hopes is part of her legacy.

“Don’t pay attention to people. They don’t know what they’re doing sometimes and have no vision. They won’t see what’s coming, and if you have someone with vision, you’re lucky,” she says.

Cher also sends an important message to women, saying she hopes young women in particular read and learn from her memoir.

“I want to remind them of what we went through and what we have the chance to achieve,” she says. “It’s still uphill for women. And to the young women starting out, I say, be balls to the wall.”