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Cher

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Cher was born in 1946 as Cheryl Sarkisian in El Centro, California. Her father was Armenian-American and her mother was a model and actress. The family moved often and had little money. Even as a child Cher had a striking low voice and dreamed of becoming famous. At sixteen she left school and tried to break into Hollywood.

Music and breakthrough

In 1965 she broke through with Sonny Bono as the duo Sonny & Cher. Their hit I Got You Babe became a symbol of the 1960s. At the same time she began a solo career, with dramatic pop songs such as Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). In the 1970s came narrative hits such as Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves, Half-Breed and Dark Lady, and she had popular television shows. After that she also became an actress and won an Oscar for Moonstruck. In the late 1980s she opted for hard rock, with If I Could Turn Back Time.

Influence

In 1998, at the age of 52, she made the dance album Believe. In the title track Auto-Tune, a program intended to correct wrong notes unobtrusively, was set up precisely so that her voice jumped audibly mechanically from note to note. That sound was named the Cher effect and was afterwards imitated everywhere in pop and hip hop. Believe became her biggest hit. Cher remained active for more than six decades by continually reinventing herself, and committed herself to gay rights and the fight against AIDS.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Believe. Notice Cher's voice in the verses: on some words it jumps like a robot from note to note. That is Auto-Tune, deliberately exaggerated.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: Artists