Cher is 77 years old today

Sonny and Cher, 1965

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Cher is 77 years old today.

Known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, Cher has worked in various areas of entertainment. She has continuously reinvented both her music and image.

Cher became prominent in 1965 as half of the folk rock husband—wife duo, Sonny & Cher, who popularized a sound that successfully competed with the dominant British Invasion and Motown styles of the era.

From 1965, she had established herself as a solo artist with million-selling singles such as "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," "Half-Breed" and "Dark Lady," songs with subjects rarely addressed in American popular music.

After the duo's drug-free lifestyle had lost its popular appeal in the United States due to the drug culture of the 1960s, she returned to stardom in the 1970s as a television personality with her shows, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, and, Cher — both of which attained immense popularity.

After Cher and Sonny divorced in 1975, Cher experimented with various musical styles, including disco and new wave, before becoming a successful live act in Las Vegas in 1980. In the early 1980s, she made her Broadway debut and starred in the film, Silkwood, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983.

In the following years, she starred in films such as Mask, The Witches of Eastwick and Moonstruck, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988.

Recognized as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, she has sold more than 100 million solo albums and over 40 million records as Sonny & Cher worldwide. She is the only artist to date to have a #1 single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.

Here, Cher in concert in Las Vegas