May 20, 2026

Cher is 80.

Today.

I'm the original Cher fan, so I don't need to link to anything. I remember the first time I heard Cher — "I Got You Babe" on a radio station that only came in late at night, before the song had made the playlist on the New York City stations that dominated the airways during the day. I wrote the song title down. 

"They say we're young...."

41 comments:

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

It was one of many music variety shows on TV in my teen years. The whole family watched Sonny and Cher, Bobby Goldsboro, Andy Williams, The Osmond Brothers, Glen Campbell, Hee Haw and many many more. And the occasional special show, which again would always feature musical acts.

It was in fact the best time to grow up for people who like music. And comedy! Geez, Flip Wilson, Carol Burnett...

Mr. D said...

Cher is one of one.

rehajm said...

…Mac Davis, Captain and Tennille, Monkees, Partridge Family, Tony Orlando…

rehajm said...

I’d want my ex wife to eulogize me that way…

rehajm said...

…if I had one…

Enigma said...

Congrats and I'm happy she's still kicking. She was fun in the Sonny & Cher days. I'll never forgive her for ruining decades of pop vocals with her AutoTuned "Believe." Never.

Nancy said...

I loved her in "Moonstruck", and playing all the parts in " West Side Story".

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qxik7XAM3Jg&si=PCenBHQBBEGmJhnX

Wilbur said...

Cher vowed to leave the US if Trump was reelected. She lied and stayed.

NKP said...

My memory of the TV show is, catchy music and Cher treating Sonny like a dumb ass. Who knows. Never crossed paths with either.

Don't think I would have had an interest in going out with her, if we'd been in school together.

Will Cate said...

Good for her for making it to 80. Great singer, great actress as well.

Quaestor said...

If memory serves, that the tune playing on Bill Murray's clock radio every morning in Groundhog Day. In that particular Hell on Earth, nothing ever recorded would have been better... or worse.

Eva Marie said...

Thank you Nancy, I found a longer clip of her performance. Stephen Spielberg could have saved a lot of money and come out with a better movie:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17auwMnYeo/

RAS743 said...

The radio station, Beaker Station, Clyde Clifford?

RAS743 said...

Beaker Street!

M Jordan said...

The best Sonny and Cher song for me is “Bang Bang.” A short, brutal poetic masterpiece.

Known Unknown said...

She should do a covers album (she did the all-ABBA one awhile ago) with songs from Creed, Radiohead, The Beastie Boys, Metallica and The Smiths, among others

Known Unknown said...

"I'll never forgive her for ruining decades of pop vocals with her AutoTuned "Believe." Never."

That's the gay national anthem you're talking about.

Enigma said...

I thought Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" or Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" (video version) would win the Gay National Athem prize.

Temujin said...

I was not much of a fan of Cher later on when she was a solo act, though she became HUGE. But if I hear the old music of Sonny & Cher, I'm brought back to some great days as a youngster. The music was great then, and about to get so much better.

Here is the Top 20 from the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of August 14, 1965 (when it first reached #1):

tunecaster.com

I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher
Help! – The Beatles
Save Your Heart For Me – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
I'm Henry VIII, I Am – Herman's Hermits
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
It's The Same Old Song – The Four Tops
Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
California Girls – The Beach Boys
Don't Just Stand There – Patty Duke
Down In The Boondocks – Billy Joe Royal
Baby, I'm Yours – Barbara Lewis
Take Me Back – Little Anthony And The Imperials
All I Really Want To Do – Cher
What's New Pussycat? – Tom Jones
In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett
You Were On My Mind – We Five
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me – Mel Carter
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag Part I – James Brown And The Famous Flames
The Tracks Of My Tears – The Miracles
Nothing But Heartaches – The Supremes

Temujin said...

She also starred in one of my favorite movies, and had the best line: Snap out of it!.

Meade said...

Her first hit, when she was only 19, was her best: All I Really Want To Do

RCOCEAN II said...

Yeah, OK. Cliche: Only the Good, and sonny bono, die young.

RCOCEAN II said...

Sonny and Cher was the sort of crap we had to watch in the 70s. Three networks controlled everything. We watched because there was nothing else on, and we didn't know any better. Thank God those days are over!

RCOCEAN II said...

I think Cher, Sinatra, and Madonna should all make a movie together. The publicity writes itself. Boomers would be lined up for miles.

RCOCEAN II said...

Call it "Grumpy old women".

IamDevo said...

"They say we're young and we don't know, won't find out until we grow..." Still waiting for Cher to find out.

Larry J said...

My brother-in-law Tommy is a retired commercial pilot. He used to own and fly planes like the Gulfstream I to transport celebrities. He regularly flew Jimmy and Roselyn Carter on the campaign trail before he won the nomination. He also flew music celebrities like rock stars. Cher and Greg Allman were frequent passengers. Tommy doesn’t talk much about his famous passengers as that would be a violation of their privacy.

Iman said...

“All I Really Want To Do” is a good one, but my fave is “Baby Don’t Go”.

Tom T. said...

She had an unstable childhood but really managed to elevate herself. I guess Sonny was good for her, but what kind of grown man takes a 16-year-old girl as his "housekeeper"?

Lazarus said...

80 is the new 40.

She may be 80, but parts of her are only 40.

Lazarus said...

The Sonny and Cher show was one long running joke: he was an idiot and she was a goddess. It got tiresome very quickly, and it's tiresome when today's TV does the same shtick.

Larry said...

Tom T Prolly same kinda guy whose wife is banging 15 year old boys and a bout any other swinging Richard she could capture

Wilbur said...

Known Unknown, I clicked your link to The Heath Ledger. Some pretty interesting stuff there.

Curious George said...

The Sonny and Cher show was one long running joke: he was an idiot and she was a goddess."

Not really an idiot. The song rights belonged to him.

HistoryDoc said...

Questor at 7:42 nails it!

Ampersand said...

Successful singers make lots of money, but here's what I would hate about it. I'd have to publicly and repeatedly pretend to enjoy expressing something that was often the opposite of what I was thinking and feeling.

Enigma said...

Sonny was the one who wrote the "I'm an idiot" scripts and taught them to Cher. Cher defended him after his death as the brains behind the show.

Sonny & Cher was a youth-oriented variety show of the era. That format died long ago.

mccullough said...

In the 80s, Cher dated Tom Cruise & Val Kilmer. She was the real Top Gun.

Skeptical Voter said...

Cher had a great career for a girl born and raised in the Imperial Vallely.

JAORE said...

So now I'm old and still don't know....

Jim at said...

Met Cher and got my picture taken with her at SEMA in 1993. Still have it.

Not very talkative, but pleasant.

Post a Comment

Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.