If it feels like Cher has always been with us – like chocolate, or sleep, or the wind – then that’s because she kind of always has. The 70-year-old singer first burst onto the music scene in 1965, aged 19 (with I Got You Babe, her single with former lover and collaborator Sonny Bono), and has more or less been with us ever since: winning Oscars, fighting bigotry, and running what may well be the best randomly-capitalised Twitter account on the planet.
In a new interview, Cher – born Cheriyln Sarkisian in California in 1946 – shares the secret behind her 50+ years of success. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, she puts it all down to… Well, being Cher.
“I really think it’s in the genes, because I haven’t had to take my keys down,” she told ET. “That’s the most impressive thing for me that I have ever done, because it’s hard to hit the notes, you know?”
Referring to the legendary 90-year-old Italian-American jazz singer (and recent Lady Gaga collaborator), Cher added: “I feel like I’m going to be the Tony Bennett of my generation.”
As far as her attitude towards the ageing process goes, the singer revealed a pearl of wisdom her own mother shared with her – then promptly rubbished it.
“[My mother] says if you don’t pay attention to age, it won’t pay attention to you,” she said. “But I think that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.
“There’s not much you can do about it,” she continued. “You just do your best.”
Cher has recently been focusing her attentions on political activism (she famously loathes Donald Trump, once substituting the toilet emoji for his name on Twitter), and spoke at the Women’s March on Washington, telling the crowds: “We have to keep this fight up. We can’t become complacent.”
At the same time, she’s maintained two residencies at the Monte Carlo hotel in Las Vegas and the MGM National Habor in Washington D.C. When asked whether she’d ever take musical advice from 35-year-old Britney Spears or 47-year-old Jennifer Lopez – both of whom also currently have Vegas residencies – Cher was unequivocal.
“Babe, I was doing Vegas when they were in rompers!” she joked.
Neither was she convinced by the suggestion that Christina Aguilera or Lady Gaga, both flamboyant belters in the Cher vein, could really follow in her footsteps.
“Christina [Aguilera] certainly has got that, her own thing happening,” she said, adding opaquely: “And I wouldn’t say, I wouldn’t say [Gaga]. Gaga and I have more of a, kind of a… Our looks pass in the night, you know? Our looks pass in the night.”
There’s only one younger female musician, in fact, that Cher is really impressed by: our very own Adele.
“Oh god, who wouldn’t [want to duet with her]?” she said. “How can you not be a fan?”
Forget Sonny and Cher: Adele and Cher is a duo we’d pay good money to see. Someone get Tottenham’s finest on the phone…
Images: Rex Features, Getty
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