Cher
A shape-shifting pop force who turned personal resilience and theatrical flair into a six-decade reign over music and film.
Born 1946 (age 80)·American singer and actress·Birthday: May 20·Baby Boomers
Biography
Cher won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in 'Moonstruck' (1987). Born Cherilyn Sarkisian in 1946, she began as a shy teenager who found her voice and a partner in Sonny Bono. Their folk-pop act, Sonny & Cher, topped charts in the 1960s. After their split, she moved from variety show hostess to serious film actress. Her music career conquered disco, rock-infused pop, and dance charts across the 1970s, 80s, and 90s with anthems of independence. She wore Bob Mackie gowns and daring streetwear. Her contralto voice and unapologetic persona created a blueprint for artistic longevity and personal autonomy.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Cher was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Cher Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Cher's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1987 film 'Moonstruck.'
- Achieved a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in each of the last six consecutive decades.
- Starred in the long-running, top-rated 'Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,' which defined variety television in the 1970s.
- Her 1998 dance-pop single 'Believe' popularized the use of Auto-Tune as a deliberate vocal effect.
- Received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018 for her lifetime contributions to American culture.
Did You Know?
She is the only artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.
Cher turned down the role of Miranda Priestly in 'The Devil Wears Prada,' which later went to Meryl Streep.
She has a species of extinct fossil fish, a ray-finned fish from the Cretaceous period, named after her: 'Araripichthys corythophorus' but nicknamed 'Cher.'
In 2022, at age 76, she became the oldest person to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine.
““The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing, and then they marry him.””
