Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946, later adopted by Gilbert LaPierre) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Among her career accomplishments in music, television and film, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards among others.

Cher rose to prominence in 1965 as one half of the pop/rock duo Sonny & Cher. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, releasing 25 albums, contributing to numerous compilations, and tallying 34 Billboard Top 40 entries in the United States during her career, both as a solo artist and with Sonny. These include eighteen Top 10 singles and five number one singles. Cher has had 16 Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1965 and 2003, four of which reached number one.

She became a television star in the 1970s and a film actress in the 1980s. In 1987 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the romantic comedy Moonstruck.

With a career lasting over 40 years, Cher is an enduring pop icon and one of the most popular female artists in music history. She has sold, as a solo artist, 200 million records worldwide and 75 million as Sonny and Cher. She is one of the biggest-selling artists of all time.

During 2007, in the seventh volume of Chrome Hearts, Cher once again confirmed that she is working on her twenty-sixth studio album. No recordings have taken place as of yet, and no release date has been scheduled.

On February 7, 2008 Cher, at 61, announced that she had reached a deal to perform 200 shows over three years live at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Her new show, entitled Cher at the Colosseum, made its debut on May 6, 2008.

The show reportedly includes 18 dancers, 4 aerialists, and multiple costumes designed by Bob Mackie. Choreography is directed by Doriana Sanchez who also worked with Cher on her past three major tours. Her show performs four nights a week for a month, and a second leg of the show will continue in August. Cher shares the stage on a rotating basis with contemporaries Bette Midler (whose The Showgirl Must Go On opened on February 20, 2008) and Elton John (whose The Red Piano, which opened in 2004, will continue its run of about 50 shows a year).

Personal Life:

In the early 1960s Cher had a relationship with actor Warren Beatty. Sonny and Cher first met in 1962. Though they had claimed to be married as early as 1963, and exchanged rings in Tijuana, Mexico, it is believed that they weren’t legally married until an impromptu ceremony in Las Vegas in 1969. Their first and only child is Chastity Sun Bono born March 4, 1969. Cher married her second husband, rock star Gregg Allman, in 1975. They later separated and were divorced in 1977. Their son, Elijah Blue Allman of the band Deadsy, was born on July 10, 1976.

Following their break-up, Cher was involved in a number of very public relationships with high profile men including record executive David Geffen, KISS bassist Gene Simmons, and senior account manager Garreth Crawford.

Cher has also been reportedly linked with singer Ricky Martin, actors Ray Liotta, Matt Dillon and John Heard, TV host John Loeffler and NHL hockey player Ron Duguay, but most of these affairs are unconfirmed. In a February 2008 interview with Good Morning America, Cher confirmed a brief relationship with actor Tom Cruise during the early 1980s as well as having turned down advances from Elvis Presley and actor Marlon Brando during the 1970s. Recently in 2007/2008 Cher has been caught romancing three men at once, in an interview with Gene Simmons she admitted to seeing one, one day, one the next day and the other the day after, all of whom younger than herself.