Cher

Actress, singer, director. Born Cherilyn LaPiere Sarkisian on May 20, 1946, in El Centro, California. Cher met Sonny Bono, a recorder producer, in a coffee shop when she was sixteen. The two began performing together as a musical act, at one point billing themselves as “Caesar and Cleo.” They married when Cher was eighteen and by 1965, Sonny and Cher were a popular act on the West Coast, renowned for their outrageous outfits. Their first big hit was “…

…found success again on the pop-music charts with her album Believe, released in late 1998. Her smash single, a neo-disco anthem also titled “Believe” made her, at age 52, the oldest American woman ever to record a No. 1 hit. Her sold-out tour began in June 1999. In early 2000, Cher overwhelmed the competition at the Grammy Awards, beating out fellow divas Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan, and Donna Summer for Best Dance Recording, and winning her first Grammy, for "Believe".