If You Could Turn Forward Time: Cher Enters Rock Hall

In 2003, Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian), was on her way to retirement when she launched “Living Proof: The Farewell Tour.” She initially set out to play 49 shows, capping off a luminous career that began in the mid-’60s, first as part of the ground-breaking husband-and-wife duo Sonny & Cher, who were considered part of the counterculture, and then as a phenomenally successful solo artist, actress and fashion icon. Along the way, she smashed glass ceilings and ran circles around critics while winning an Oscar, Grammy and Emmy.

True to her resplendent and resilient form, instead of bowing out, Cher’s farewell
tour turned into a massive mid-career comeback expanding to 200 dates and grossing $200 million – the highest grossing tour for any woman at the time. That record wasn’t broken until 2008. Still, to this day, only a handful of women have ever surpassed Cher’s touring gross.

While Cher has since returned to the road (she’s long-held residencies at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and continues to make appearances), her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not only well-deserved, it’s long overdue.

Since premiering 60 years ago, Cher has built an estimable catalog filled with stone cold classics, including with Sonny (“I Got You Babe,” “The Beat Goes On,” and their stellar version of Dylan’s “All I Want To Do”) and without. Her solo work is vastly underrated and includes classics like “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves,” “Half Breed,” “Just Like Jesse James” and her late-career smash hits “Believe,” [her biggest song] and “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

Cher is a pop goddess and one of the only artists (alongside The Rolling Stones) to have a No. 1 song in each of the last seven decades. She’s also just a Tony short of EGOT, winning a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Loretta Castorini in 1987’s “Moonstruck,” a
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special Emmy for her 2003 “The Farewell Tour” special and a 2000 Best Dance Recording Grammy for “Believe.” She is also something of a LGBTQ+ icon with many aspiring to replicate her bold fashion choices (she was the first woman to show her belly button regularly on TV) and strident demeanor.

Cher’s outspokenness has landed her in hot water innumerable times and during a December 2023 appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Cher had some harsh words to say about not yet being inducted into the Rock Hall while noting, “I changed music forever with [1998 single] ‘Believe.’” Though initially she said she wouldn’t be in the Hall even if they “gave me a million dollars,” Cher later confessed her plans to attend the ceremony, telling ET in May, “I’m going to have some words to say. I’m going to accept it as me.” Get ready