In her most recent novel, Cher has startling information regarding her original name, thereby clarifying the famous singer’s early life and route to glory.
For decades, the world has known her only as “Cher,” the legendary singer and actress whose strong voice and mesmerizing onstage presence brought her recognition.
However, as Cher reveals in her latest book, her most famous name was not the one she received at birth.
In “Cher: The Memoir, Part One,” the 77-year-old music great describes the unexpected revelation she had in 1979 when she sought to formally alter her name to “Cher.”
When Cher asked for a copy of her birth certificate, she was surprised to discover that her first name was really “Cheryl,” a vast departure from the mononym she had grown to know.
“I thought Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher,” the “Moonstruck” actress said in People Magazine.
Cher’s birth name has an intriguing history. At the age of 19, Georgia Holt, Cher’s mother, gave birth to Cher in 1946, one month ahead of the expected due date.
At a modest California hospital, Holt worked a tough job devoid of pharmacological assistance. A nurse visited Holt after the delivery and inquired what name she had selected, as Cher details in her biography.
Weary from the experience, Holt revealed that her favorite actress was Lana Turner, after whom she named her daughter Cheryl.
Then Holt combined her own mother’s name, Lynda, to create “Cherilyn.”
On the birth certificate, the nurse entered the name as “Cheryl,” albeit inadvertently. Years later, when Cher saw this disparity, she brought it up with her mother.
“Do you even know my real name, Mom?” Cher thought back and remembered asking. Having experienced a difficult birth, Holt simply shrugged and said, “As a teenage girl, I was in a great deal of pain.”
Let me break it off for you. The revelation of Cher’s birth name as “Cheryl” is an intriguing detail in her life narrative, dotted with surname changes.
Cher eventually adopted the names of her adoptive father, Gilbert LaPiere, as well as her two ex-husbands, Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman.
Holt is the sole child of John Sarkisian. She didn’t settle on the single title that has come to define her remarkable career until 1979.
Cher’s book provides an honest and insightful insight into the life of one of the most influential and iconic figures in music.
Fans now have a better understanding of the path that resulted in the birth of the unique artist known only as Cher, thanks to this surprising revelation regarding her birth name.