At 77, after kicking off her music career back in ’63, Cher is looking back at her accomplishments with unabashed pride. While promoting her new holiday album called Christmas, Cher has taken time during interviews to reflect on her historic accomplishments, a list that actually does not include induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a detail for which she had a very strong response.
The subject arose during her recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Cher’s holiday single “DJ Play a Christmas Song” reached the top of Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. It’s part of a bigger trend of expectation-defying records she’s been breaking, so when Cher mentioned to Clarkson that she’s not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both artists had some colorful things to say.
Cher reflects on her many historic triumphs throughout her long and ongoing career
It’s been a busy year for Cher, which also describes many of her years since exploding onto the music scene as the Goddess of Pop, one-half of the folk rock duo Sonny & Cher. The October 20 debut of Cher’s Christmas marked the release of her first new original album in 10 years.
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But her groundbreaking work extends far beyond recent album releases. “I changed music forever with ‘Believe,'” she mused, speaking with Clarkson, referring to her 1998 single on the album of the same name.
The electro-dance pop song featured a pioneering use of Auto-Tune software to alter Cher’s voice. From then on out, it would become known as the “Cher effect.” Today, “Believe” is celebrated as one of Cher’s most important songs.
With 100 million records around the globe, Cher is one of the best-selling music artists in history. Her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, which ran from 2002 to 2005, quickly became the highest-grossing concert tour by a female artist ever at the time, with earnings of $250 million. So, where does Cher feel the recognition has fallen short?
Cher and her fans react to her absence from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cher has truly made each decade her own, as Cher is the only solo artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart every consecutive decade for six decades. The only others to share this record are the Rolling Stones.
“It took four of them to be one of me,” teased Cher, adding, “And I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” Clarkson and the studio shared a gasp, with Clarkson exclaiming, “Wait, are you serious?”
“I’m not kidding you,” replied Cher. “I was about to say sh—ing you! You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars … I’m never going to change my mind. They can just go you-know-what themselves.”