
Cher and I have something in common, and I don’t just mean sleeping with David Geffen. We have both been on our Living Proof: The Farewell Tour for the past decade. Cher’s tour is the most successful tour by a female solo artist of all time. I felt lucky to book a gig in my own backyard.
She is already enormously successful, so does Cher kick back at her place in Malibu and take a hit off her vape pen? No, Cher goes out on tour.
For six decades, she managed to turn tragedy into triumph again and again, forever proving wrong her doubters willing to declare her career over.
In her 70s, she began a two-year Las Vegas residency that began in 2017 (she is back this week); she went on a worldwide tour, returned to movies with Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and lived to witness a big Broadway musical, The Cher Show, play to packed houses, and released a new album, Dancing Queen, a collection of ABBA covers.
Cher is not done yet, not our Cher. She is out on tour with Nile Rodgers and Chic through the end of the year. Her 90-minute concert opens with empowerment anthems: Woman’s World and Strong Enough; revisits her early days with Sonny Bono: The Beat Goes On and I Got You Babe; she does a set of songs from her films, including three ABBA tracks; plus a bunch of her hits, and, as always, her charming patter and Bob Mackie costumes.
It’s hard not to be impressed by Cher’s drive, passion, sense of humor and dedication to her craft. She turns 74 today, and Cher is doing more than just turning back time. Last year at a concert in Detroit, she asked her audience:
What is your granny doing tonight?