1- Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946.
2- Cher’s family first noticed her creativity when in the fifth grade, she produced for her teacher and class a performance of the musical Oklahoma!.
3- In the early 1980s, Cher made her Broadway debut, and then starred in the film Silkwood, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983.
4- Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their first hit, “I Got You Babe”.
5- As an adult, she discovered that she had dyslexia.
6- Cher has been famous for over 50 years now, but that’s not slowing her down. Her last album (2013’s Closer to the Truth) was her highest-charting solo album on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number three.
7- Cher began working as a model in 1967 for photographer Richard Avedon after then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland discovered her at a party for Jacqueline Kennedy that year.
8- When she was a teenager, Cher was arrested for stealing a car, but the story isn’t quite as dramatic as it sounds. She was watching a friend’s car while he was running an errand and when he took too long, she decided to take it to the drive-in theater. The incident was more embarrassing than criminal.
9- She was put into foster care when her parents were stricken with poverty
10- Cher found her beloved cat, Mr. Big, underneath one of her tour trucks when she was in Detroit.
12- Cher has been honored with over 250 worldwide industry awards for her work in music, television and film.
13- Fascinated by film stars, Cher’s role model was Audrey Hepburn, particularly due to her role in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
14- Cher never graduated from high school, having suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia as a child.
15- When Cher was a child, her mother booked parts for her and her sister to appear as extras on shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
16- Cher has sold 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
17- Cher once told US Weekly that she is convinced that former late night TV host David Letterman is in love with her. No word from David on how true this hunch is.
18- In her 1988 acceptance speech for winning Best Actress for her role in Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck, Cher forgot to thank the most important person – Norman Jewison! She claims she was too nervous and mistakenly forgot to thank him.
19- In 2008, she signed a $180 million deal to headline the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for three years.
20 -Cher reached a new commercial peak in 1998 with the song “Believe”, which features the pioneering use of Auto-Tune, also known as the “Cher effect”.
21 -She turned down the part of Thelma in “Thelma & Louise.” The role later went to Geena Davis.
22- With the success of “Believe,” Cher became the oldest woman to have a number one song — at the age of 52.
23- Cher starred in films such as Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and Moonstruck, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988.
24- She has dated many notable celebrities. Some of these celebrities include Tom Cruise, Gene Simmons, Val Kilmer, and David Geffen.
25- In 1994, she launched her own line of home furnishings that were described as “a sort of medieval L.L. Bean” by Entertainment Weekly. She has also endorsed a line of hair and skin care products.
26- Cher has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a special CFDA Fashion Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Cannes Film Festival award, among several other honors.
27- Long before she became the mononymical pop goddess, Cher’s voice could be heard on numerous hits–as a background vocalist. She sang on such Phil Spector-produced songs as “Be My Baby,” by The Ronettes, The Crystals’ “Da Do Ron Ron,” and the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” among others.
28- When Cher contracted Epstein–Barr virus in the early 1990s, she was too weak to continue with the busy and taxing music and film career she’d started. To pay the bills, she started doing infomercials.
29- Cher’s net worth is $305 million
30- In fact, Cher is the only female artist in the world to have had number one singles in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Now that’s impressive.
31- Cher is one of just six people to have achieved both a No. 1 single and an Oscar for acting. The others are Frank Sinatra, Jamie Foxx, Barbra Steisand, Bing Crosby, and Judy Garland (who received an Honorary Oscar in 1939).
32- Cher has employed various musical styles, including folk, pop, punk rock, arena rock, power ballads, disco, new wave, and hip hop; she said she has done this to “remain relevant and do work that strikes a chord”.
Sources
https://www.metv.com/lists/11-iconic-facts-about-cher
“https://www.littlethings.com/facts-about-cher/”
http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/03/ten_facts_you_might_not_know_a.html