Reflections on a lifelong love affair with Cher

Commentary: My first introduction to Cher was when I heard “Bang, Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down,” on the radio. I was nine and that song was flooding the airwaves of Top 40 radio. It spoke to me as it did to millions of other children who may have played cowboys and Indians.

Cher has been speaking to me ever since. She was one of my first celebrity crushes, preceded only by Patty Duke. I loved Cher before I knew I was gay and before she was a gay icon. Cher was an “outsider” and did not fit in the era’s norm, a feeling LGBTQs know all too well.

Johnny sporting his ‘Cher at the SNL’s 50th Anniversary’ T-shirt

Johnny sporting his ‘Cher at the SNL’s 50th Anniversary’ T-shirt

The Cher of the mid-’60s revolutionized fashion by blending Bohemian “flower child” aesthetics with high-fashion mod, signature, pin-straight hair and Cleopatra-style mascara. My favorite cousin Nancy sported the “Cher look.”

In August of 1971, as I was about to enter my sophomore year of high school, a summer replacement series appeared on Sunday nights. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour showed us a more mature Cher. Gone were the striped bell-bottoms, fur-trimmed coats and beads, replaced with glamorous evening gowns made of sequins and rhinestones by gay designer Bob Mackie.

The summer series proved to be so popular that CBS added it to its regular schedule. It became must-see TV for me and my classmates as we’d talk in between classes about Cher’s costumes and exposed belly button. My schoolmates often compared Cher’s deadpan comic sarcasm to my own sense of humor.

The series gave Cher a chance to showcase her solo singing career. “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” and “Half Breed” were both number-one hits and speak to being defined as an outcast, something I and the rest of the queer community lived.

The Top-10 ratings winner was scheduled to return for a fourth season in October 1974, but Sonny and Cher separated, and the show was cancelled. Most of the country blamed Cher for the breakup of a storybook marriage. Even I was outraged at Cher.

My anger disappeared when I learned the reasons for the breakup and, in early 1975, Cher was back on weekly TV starring in her own variety show. It was a big hit while The Sonny Comedy Revue was a spectacular flop.

During the second season, Cher herself decided to end the show to work with Sonny again and in 1976, The Sonny and Cher Show premiered. It proved popular but by 1977, the variety show genre was a dying breed and the show ended without much fanfare.

Cher returned to TV in 1978 with a cable TV special, a concert with costumes, singing, dancing and drag queens. That this big star would be so risqué as to feature drag queens on her show seemed like a turning point in inclusion.

Cher’s fierce independence, flamboyant style, campy performances and allyship with the LGBTQ+ community embedded her as a gay icon by the 1980s.

The first time I saw Cher in person was at Foley’s in downtown Houston in 1987. She made an appearance promoting her perfume, Uninhibited.

The first Cher concert I saw in person was the 1989 Heart of Stone Tour. The Summit was packed with tons of her LGBTQ+ fans; I lost count of the number of drag queens dressed as Cher.

Her 1999 single “Believe” introduced the world to the “Cher effect” and is still on every DJ’s playlist. I used to tell people I could listen to Cher sing the phone book.

Will & Grace acknowledged her status of gay icon by making her the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. I found it hilarious that she made a cameo on the show, in which Jack believed her to be a drag queen.

Cher’s Farewell Tour set records. I saw it twice at the Summit, first with best friend Jack and on the second round of the tour with my friend and co-worker Stephanie. When it was broadcast on TV, I invited friends over for a Cher viewing party.

I worked in a psychiatric hospital for many years, mostly with children aged 4 through12. I initiated an aerobics class that I’d do with the kids that included Sonny and Cher’s “A Cowboy’s Work is Never Done,” a fun number that the kids really enjoyed.

Cher’s Here We Go Again Tour rode into Toyota Center in 2019. Friend Chris, Mychal and Eman, all Cher concert virgins, were amazed at the 72-year old’s performance. We all agree she’s still got another tour in her.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated records, 8-tracks, CDs, books, VHS tapes, dolls, (1970s and 2000s versions), perfume, concert programs, shirts, and portraits of the living legend.

Cher, who turns 80 on May 20, may be the single greatest gay icon of all time. I, like millions of other gay men, have been a fan for over 60 years. She has always been omnipresent, which makes our relationship even more special!

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