Book Review: ‘Cher: The Memoir Part One’
We’re always talking about the newest star. The term “superstar” gets thrown around a lot too. But few stars actually make it to the level of a true superstar. Stars who have been in our lives for decades, who are loved across generations, who don’t even need a last name to be recognized. One of the few people to reach this height is Cher. See, I didn’t even need her last name or to say anything more, and you already have a picture in your head, probably accompanied by audio. Cher has been part of the pop culture landscape for so long that it’d been difficult to find anyone who doesn’t know her story. But now it’s time to hear that story in her own words. And I promise you, it’s not the story you thought you knew. For the truth, or as close as she can remember it, read Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher herself.
[Warning: My review of Cher: The Memoir Part One contains some spoilers!]
Cher: The Memoir Part One starts before the legendary superstar was born
We’re addicted to backstories. We always want to know where someone came from and how they got to this moment in time. But even backstories have backstories. You can always ask “what came before that”. So Cher decided to start her memoir, like many other people, before she was born.
But she doesn’t just go back to how her parents met or where they were born, no she goes all the way back to her grandmother. Cher concentrates on her matrilineal line, which makes sense because the men in her family don’t seem to stick around. So we learn about the crazy life her grandma had, then her mother, then her. Cher shares her story in a very conversational way. She skips around a little bit, but mostly she tells her life in a chronological way.
And what a life it is. Cher grew up in a way that, I thought, was only in books or movies. She moved constantly, was left behind while her mother went off on adventures, took off on her own when she was young, and just had a wild, unchained life growing up. Her stories are fascinating and if I thought she had anything to gain by lying I’d probably call bullpucky on it. But you know what they say, “you can’t make this stuff up.” It’s so amazing, it has to be true.
Honestly, her early life without any real boundaries is probably what set her up for so much success. She was never taught she couldn’t do things, so she never put herself in a box, she just did what she wanted. Now of course this doesn’t mean that it was easy or that she never had doubts, Cher is human. But the important thing is that she never let those doubts stop her, she just kept going.
Setting the record straight on her relationship with Sonny Bono
Some of the things that I found most interesting were the stories that I heard wrong. For instance, I always heard that Sonny Bono took advantage of Cher when she was young. But according to Cher, it was more like she took advantage of him. She always looked old for her age, so he just assumed she was older, and she never told him otherwise.
She needed a place to live, and Bono offered her a room at his place for maid services. There was no relationship beyond friendly roommates for a very long time. He did help her break into the music industry, but she quite wanted to be there. Obviously, their relationship wasn’t perfect. If it had been, they’d still be together. And as it went along, things got bad. But it didn’t have the horrible beginning that I was always told it did.
More to come after Cher: The Memoir Part One
Part One only covers up to the 1980s. And while that’s quite a big chunk of time, there’s still over 40 years left to talk about. Cher continued having an active career for a few more decades (some would argue she still does, but I think it’s safe to say she’s slowing down). There are still a lot more stories to tell. The second half of her memoir is set to come out in November 2025. She’ll finish off her story, up to that point anyway.
Considering I wasn’t even born by the time Cher: The Memoir Part One cuts out, I’m rather interested in part two. After all, that will be the Cher I know, the parts of her career that I, personally, lived through, and I’m interested to hear her side of those stories. The infamous autotune situation is something I really want to hear about from her point of view.
Fans of Cher are going to want to read her story, in her own words. She’s really led an incredible life, not that that’s surprising. So check out Cher: The Memoir Part One if you want the real story of what made Cher, Cher.
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