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In Cher: The Memoir – Part 1, to be published by HarperCollins on November 19th, the singer and actress chronicles her early years in the music industry, including her partnership and marriage to Sonny Bono. I am writing about the time. The duo had eight Top 20 hits in the 1960s and ’70s, and their television series “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” was a huge ratings success.
Read the excerpt below. In it, she talks about attending an Elvis Presley concert when she was 11 years old, an event that would change the direction of her life.
Don’t miss Cher’s interview with Anthony Mason on “CBS Sunday Morning” on November 17th!
“Cher: Memoir – Part 1”
Should I ask? Audible is currently offering a 30-day free trial.
preface
Los Angeles, summer 1956
A chill ran through my body as I stared at the TV with my mouth open, dropping the peanut butter and jelly sandwich onto the plate in my lap.
I was home alone after school, sitting cross-legged (in my favorite position) on the floor in front of the television, enjoying the peace and quiet and watching my favorite show, American Bandstand. I did. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, Ray Charles,” Dick Clark announced, and the camera panned to a handsome man in sunglasses sitting at a piano.
“Georgia, Georgia…” he began, and I burst into tears. I couldn’t believe he was singing a song about my mother. As tears dripped onto my sandwich, I had never felt so connected to anything in my life. Ray Charles’ voice and melody seemed to express exactly how I felt.
It took me weeks to get over seeing him sing, and in some ways I never did, but then the first time I heard him sing on the radio, my understanding of the world came to a head. It punched a hole and I was never the same. As I stared at the television with my mother watching the Ed Sullivan Show, a popular young singer named Elvis Presley filled the screen. My mother and I were two of the 60 million Americans who witnessed that historic performance in September 1956.
That Sunday night, even though Elvis was dressed in fairly traditional attire, he looked and moved unlike any other performer I had ever seen. He started singing “Don’t Be Cruel” and by the time he broke into “Love Me Tender” it felt like he was singing just to me. I wanted to jump right into the TV and be Elvis.
A year later, when I heard he was performing at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, I rushed home with stars in my 11-year-old eyes. “Mom, Mom! Elvis is going to the Pan Pacific! Can I go? … Please?” I knew I had to be there. I secretly thought he would spot me in the crowd and choose me, as any girl should.
Luckily for me, my 31-year-old mother was as obsessed with Elvis as I was. That fact impressed my friends. Because their mother did not approve of his raw sexuality. To this day I don’t know where she found the money, but somehow Georgia did. My mom and I dressed up and headed to town, more like sisters than mother and daughter. We soon found ourselves caught up in a pulsating mass of 9,000 boisterous girls, feeling the tension build as we approached the Fairfax area.
We were swept into the auditorium on a wave of pure adrenaline. Our folding seats were about half way back from the audience, which was fine by me. As I looked around at the girls staring expectantly at the darkened stage, I felt my heart pounding in my flat little chest. This was a feeling I would become familiar with later in life.
The stage was dark, but when the spotlight shone on him, Elvis was there and he was under the spell. The crowd erupted into cheers the likes of which I had never heard before. A flashbulb explosion occurred. I wish I had brought a small Kodak brownie with me. Elvis stood there in his famous gold suit, changing colors and shimmering in the spotlight.
He was very handsome, with a great smile and shiny black hair the exact same color as mine. I could barely hear the words “Heartbreak Hotel” as everyone around us jumped up and started screaming hysterically. But hey, we could see him in action – the way he swiveled his hips and shook his legs tremblingly. Not content with just making as much noise as possible, the girls started jumping up on chairs to get a better view. That is, from then on we could only see Elvis’ head and shoulders.
Being in the middle of that shrieking crowd felt like being caught in a giant tidal wave rushing towards the stage with hysteria. I didn’t understand why everyone was acting so crazy. Honestly, I was too young to understand that part (but if I was 3 years older and my mom was 3 years younger, we would have lost our minds). I had always wanted to stand on that stage and be in the spotlight someday, so it was the most exciting experience I’ve ever had.
When I looked at my mom, she wasn’t counting. We were both fascinated. She looked so beautiful in her amazing outfit that I felt that out of all the girls there, including me, Elvis must have chosen her.
I screamed, pressing my mouth to my ear so she could hear, holding my hand over it. “Mom, can we stand up and scream?”
“Yes,” she replied, giggling like a teenager as she took off her high heels. “Come on, let’s do it!” So we stood on our tiptoes and tried our best to meet him.
Shining with happiness, I tried to think about whether Elvis would be too old to marry me by the time I grew up so he could sing to me every day. I dreamed of being Mrs. Presley, and for weeks I couldn’t stop talking to my mom about Elvis while walking on clouds of golden glitter.
Excerpt from “Cher: The Memoir (Part 1)” by Cher. Copyright © 2024 by Cher. Reprinted with permission of HarperCollins.
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