Rare Details About Cher Expose A Side The Public Hasn't Seen

Cher didn't always go by one name alone. Her father, a truck driver who struggled with addiction, abandoned his young daughter and her mother in 1947, the year she turned one. Despite this setback, Cher's mother was determined to give herself and her daughter a life after love.

During the '50s, when Cher was growing up, Georgia Holt was a bit-actress and part-time model. This connection led to Cher's first ever on-screen appearance in 1967 on the TV show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. From the moment the director yelled "action!" Cher knew she was where she was meant to be.

In fact, Cher's childhood was far from privileged. She once recalled being so poor that she had to use rubber bands to tie her shoes together. The mother and daughter, along with Cher's young half-sister Georgeanne, struggled to make ends meet. And at a few particularly low points, Georgia had no choice but to leave Cher at orphanages for periods of time when she couldn't afford to feed her.

And although her time with the nuns was brief, she never forgot the experience. When she later confronted her mother about the orphanage in the documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher, Georgia was frank in her response. "I didn’t have any money or a job, and the church was so strong. I’d go see you every day, and you’d be crying. You don’t know what it was like."

Before meeting the other half of her famed duo, Sonny, Cher released her first single under a new stage name. When the world first met Cher, she was actually named Bonnie Jo Mason. When the single didn't do well on the charts, she had to go back to the drawing board. Thankfully, the drawing board is where she met the man who would change her life forever.

When Sonny and Cher first met, Sonny Bono was already working for legendary producer Phil Spector. Sonny was immediately taken with Cher, but before he knew about her unique contralto voice, he asked her to be his housekeeper! Initially, She accepted the offer as she was desperate to get into the industry. Obviously, it worked! In 1964, Sonny and Cher told everybody that they were married; legally, though, they weren’t.

In this photo, Cher is reading Hit Parader, a music mag that was on the shelves from 1942 to 2008. The pages of this edition were filled with stories on John Lennon, Barbra Streisand, and The Supremes. Eventually, Cher would be as much of a household name as any of them — even without Sonny by her side. You see, although the couple were going strong back when this picture was taken in 1966, their relationship faced many challenges in the coming years.

Live performances always seemed to bolster the duo's spirits. Here, Cher is performing a sound check at the Hollywood Bowl in 1966. It was just before a concert that saw her and Sonny get up on stage alongside The Righteous Brothers. Clearly, it was a very '60s affair! Her fashion only emphasizes the experimental era. She’s dressed in a magnificent outfit that seems to be made entirely out of yellow leather.

With their colorful bell-bottoms and fur vests, Sonny and Cher were unlike anything people had seen before. As The Beatles performed in neat suits, Sonny and Cher kept audiences guessing with their vibrant hippie style. And whenever Cher stepped onto the stage in a Bob Mackie original on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, she held the audience's attention. As the duo rose in the charts and pivoted to TV, they seemed happy on the surface.

They hoped that branching out would help, but Chimpanzees don’t really make for good co-stars! Here, Cher posed while snuggling up to a young chimp named Toto to publicize her and Sonny’s movie, Good Times. As it turned out, Good Times would be the only film she and her husband would make together. The film failed to make an impression at the box office, and it certainly didn't help Cher and Sonny's crumbling marriage.

This striking picture looks like it could be a still from a film, but it was snapped in 1968 while Cher was freshening up her appearance backstage. The star’s expression suggests she has a lot on her mind, and she probably did. It wasn’t long after this that Sonny and Cher’s fame appeared to be fading, and they were running into financial difficulties.

Here’s Cher as you may never have seen her before. She’s in character as Laverne Lashinski, the tackily-dressed but inexplicably sexy character from The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Laverne proved to be so popular that Cher played her again on stage the following decade. Funnily enough, Sonny and Cher ended up being TV hits thanks to their senses of humor and impeccable fashion.

When Cher eventually decided she wanted a divorce, Sonny threatened her by saying, “America will hate you and you won’t have a job.” Even so, she bravely broke out of the relationship to pursue a solo career. When Sonny later died in a skiing accident in 1998, Cher read his eulogy and cried at his funeral. But their relationship was always rocky, and in 2013, Cher made a dig about her late husband.

When news spread that Cher and Sonny had split, Elvis Presley reached out to Cher and invited her to his show in Las Vegas. Cher declined, as she said she was too nervous. She later said she regretted the rejection. Elvis wasn't the last man to fall for Cher's beauty, either. She dated Tom Cruise, Warren Beatty, Val Kilmer, and Gene Simmons over the years.

But it's Cher's marriage to Gregg Allman that was one of her most significant relationships in her life. The relationship between Cher and Allman was turbulent, to say the least. She actually divorced him a mere nine days after marrying him, then married him again… then divorced him again. She vented to People magazine in 1978, “If someone lies to you 10 times, you start becoming numb to whatever they say, but it took me an awful long time.”

This pic was snapped as Cher departed Los Angeles International Airport to do a tour alongside Sonny Bono. Yep, even though the pair were divorced by then, there was still a big audience for them as a couple. Part of the contract Cher had signed as Sonny’s wife stated that the singer had to do shows with him whether she wanted to or not. 

You see, despite her success, Cher never graduated high school. She dropped out at the age of 16 and never went back. Later she was diagnosed with severe dyslexia, which helped explain her issues with school. Still, her experience dealing with rejection and adversity made her career setbacks easier to handle. Throughout the '70s, Cher learned how to ride the waves of the entertainment industry, and she learned the key to continuous success.

Whenever Cher is dressed in regular clothes and isn’t wearing her trademark eyeliner, she almost looks like an entirely different person. In this shot, taken at Los Angeles’ El Privado Club, Cher is sporting a fancy hat and big earrings, but otherwise, there’s little to signify that it’s really her posing on that motorbike. But that's exactly how Cher liked it.

Cher still tried to make a happy, full life for her two sons, Chaz and Elijah, even if it meant swapping heels and headdresses for boots and wool caps. Not everyone can pull off looking glamorous in ski wear, but Cher, of course, is one of those people. Here she is in 1977 on a snowy vacation to Aspen, Colorado, with her two children.

Cher absolutely dazzled at Billboard magazine’s 1979 Disco Convention. She wore a golden dress by — who else? — Bob Mackie, and the gown made her twinkle from head to toe in beads and sequins. And another magnificent headpiece finished off the look (she was known for donning elaborate headpieces in the '70s).

One of her most famous relationships in the '80s was with Val Kilmer, who was 14 years her junior. Apparently, things got pretty steamy between the pair. Cher told People in 1984 what it was like when they kissed. “I thought my head would shoot right off my body,” she said. “I had to catch my breath.” But Cher’s biggest love during that era was a non-Hollywood man named Robert Camilletti.

In the mid-80s, Cher decided to take a break from music to focus on her new passion: acting. And fans undoubtedly remember 1988 as a magical year for Cher. She won the Academy Award for her part in Moonstruck, and her hit song If I Could Turn Back Time was a huge hit. Similar feats had only been accomplished by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Barbara Streisand.

For example, when Cher picked up her Oscar for Moonstruck, she did it in style. The star wore a very daring see-through black dress, designed by her old favorite Bob Mackie. It showed off her midriff, legs, and tattoo. The look went down in history — not just as one of Cher’s most iconic outfits, but as one of the most iconic outfits ever seen at the Oscars.

The friends had a terrifying experience together in the '70s. Cher told Us Weekly that her and pal Meryl Streep ran down a mugger who was attacking a woman in New York City. He got away, but the woman was unharmed thanks to the help of these two legends! Streep and Cher shared the screen again decades later in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

In the late 80s, Cher was approached to star as Thelma in Thelma & Louise. She turned it down to appear alongside Christina Ricci and Winona Ryder in Mermaids, a decision that may have come back to haunt her. Mermaids was well-received, but it wasn't the instant classic that Thelma & Louise turned out to be. Around this time, Cher's personal life started to impact her career.

Epstein-Barr forced her to take a lengthy break from show business to get healthy. It was probably her first real break from show biz in years. And while her illness has interfered with her career a few times, she’s nonetheless kept fighting. “You never lose it, and it really takes the life out of you,” Cher told USA Today in 2008. She's always been an open book about her health issues, and the same can be said for her cosmetic surgeries.

Cher is definitely known for her honesty, and she's never afraid to say what she thinks — even if it gets her into trouble. Of her 2010 film Burlesque, she did not mince words. “It could have been a much better film. It was always sad that it was not a good film…Terrible director! Really terrible director. And really terrible script,” she said. Sometimes, Cher's judgement when it came to her own music was questionable, however.

“If I Could Turn Back Time” is arguably one of Cher’s most beloved hits. When the singer first heard the track, though, she apparently despised it. In fact, her songwriter, Diane Warren, had to literally hold Cher down in order to convince her to perform it. “She’s not always the best judge of her own material,” Warren told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014. But she is a good judge of people.

In the world of philanthropy, Cher's heart was always in the right place. Did you know that Cher loves motorcycles? She’s actually been into them ever since she was a teenager. This picture from December 1994 shows her using her hobby for a good cause, riding her Harley at the Rejoice on Rodeo parade to raise money for the Camp Ronald McDonald organization.

This pic from the winter of 1994 shows Cher at the fifth annual Fire and Ice Ball, which raised money for the UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program. Cher actually has her own charitable organization now, the Cher Charitable Foundation, which she uses to donate to important causes such as AIDS research, anti-poverty organizations, and veterans rights. She's also worked with Habitat for Humanity.

Cher's older son Chaz Bono is a transgender man who has worked in show business as well. He had a short reality show during his transition and has guest starred on some episodes of FX series American Horror Story. He's also done important work as an activist and has worked alongside GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign. Cher's parenting is as imperfect as anyone's, but she was supportive when Chaz began his gender transition in 2008.

Her relationship with her son Elijah Blue, from her marriage to Greg Allman, has been very turbulent. She kept him away from his father to shield him from Allman's addiction, and Elijah was sent to boarding school at age 7. Sadly, he too developed a heroin habit later in life. He opened up about his childhood to Entertainment Tonight in 2014.

Despite the challenges she's faced with her sons, Cher was always very close to her mother. In this shot, Cher is enjoying a picnic with her mom, Georgia Holt. Georgia lived an amazing life, and in 2021 Cher posted a picture of her at 95 years old, and she looked staggeringly young for her age. Hopefully, Cher will follow in her mom’s footsteps, not only in terms of youthfulness but longevity.

This picture, taken on the opening night of the movie Last Tango in Paris, shows Cher smiling away with her half-sister, Georganne LaPiere Bartylak. And you may recognize Georganne. She was an actress for a good few decades and played Heather Grant Webber in General Hospital during the ’70s. Though the sisters look nothing alike, they were very close during their childhoods.

In 1998, Cher released a book titled The First Time. It’s full of stories about her life and includes snippets from her childhood, including her family's financial struggles, the impact of Sonny’s passing, and everything in between. She spent November 13th of that year at the Chelsea Barnes & Noble in New York, signing copies of both the book and her new album Believe.

That same year, Cher didn’t disappoint at the 1998 Oscars. 10 years after her Oscar win, she wore yet another see-through gown by Bob Mackie, which was, of course, topped off with another magnificent hat. It wasn’t one of her favorite looks, though, even if she did look amazing, especially for her age of 52. She told magazine The Hollywood Reporter about the dress in 2013.

Cher has had many hair colors over the years, but there’s no denying that this gorgeous red shade from the year 2000 was one of the most striking. She wore it while performing in Los Angeles as part of her sell-out “Do You Believe?” tour. Back in her traditional over-the-top outfits and jewels, she looked fantastic — and clearly had energy to spare.

It takes a brave woman to change their appearance completely, but that’s what Cher did for the Emmy Awards in 2000. She transformed those famous long, black locks into blonde ones — and switched her eye color from brown to blue as well. She was 54 at the time and likely an inspiration to many. But as it turns out, her transformation may have been more significant to her than anyone thought.

The Farewell Tour became one of the most successful tours of the decade, which is obviously a testament to Cher's influence since she first took the stage in the '60s. And if you've learned anything about Cher by now, it's that nothing can stop her from doing what she wants... not even a multi-year "farewell" tour. In 2014, you see, Cher announced her Dressed to Kill Tour. So everyone said "farewell" for nothing!