The 39 Most Iconic Cher Quotes

Cher is an American singer, actress and television personality who has become a global culture icon. She has legions of rabid fans and she has embodied female autonomy in a male dominated industry. Cher is known for her distinctive singing voice and for having worked as an actress in addition to being a music superstar

Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their song “I Got You Babe” peaked at number one on the US and UK charts. By the end of 1967, they had sold 40 million records worldwide and were referred to as “Rock’s It couple” by Time magazine. Cher began her solo career at that time. And the couple had a TV show in the 1970s, the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which was watched by over 30 million weekly viewers during it’s three year run. Cher also became a fashionable trendsetter and known for her elaborate outfits on her various TV shows.

Cher had a lot of ups and downs during the 1970’s. She established herself as a solo artist with multiple number 1 singles on the Billboard “Hot 100” List. She got divorced from Sonny Bono, got remarried to Greg Allman from the Allman brothers, and her popularity started to decline. In the 1980’s she made her Broadway debut and then went on to prominent roles in some very popular movies including: Silkwood (1983), Mask (1985), The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and Moonstruck (1989). She even received an Academy Award for Best Actress in Moonstruck.

Later she revived her music career and had a second commercial peak in 1998 with the pop song Believe (see video below) which became a massive hit and exposed her voice and music to a new generation. In recent years, Cher continues to act and sing and has become an outspoken activist for many progressive causes including LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Cher is an icon, a legend and an inspiration to millions. We hope these quotes remind you of her voice and impact.

Cher Quotes

1. “My mom said to me, ‘One day you should settle down and marry a rich man.’ I said, ‘Mom, I am a rich man.”– Cher

2. “I don’t need a man. But I’m happier with one. I like to have someone I can touch and squeeze and kiss. But I don’t fold up and die if I don’t have a man around.”– Cher

3. “I think I am a product of my mother’s sensibilities and my mother’s values. There has been lots of battling and lots of love and it’s never an easy road for us. But in the deepest recesses, I do have my mother’s values.”– Cher

4. “I remember a great America where we made everything. There was a time when the only thing you got from Japan was a really bad cheap transistor radio that some aunt gave you for Christmas.”– Cher

5. “I never cared about money. I’m not destined to be a rich woman. I’m destined to be a woman who makes a lot of money and never has any. I’ve made millions and millions and millions of dollars and I just spend it.”– Cher

6. “My mother was the most creative, fantastic person and would come up with great things for us to do. She’d buy art supplies and all of us would sit around painting. I was lucky.”– Cher

7. “I felt impotent and out of control, which I really, really hate. I had to find sanctuary in a place where I could gather my thoughts and regain my strength.”– Cher

8. “I’ve always taken risks, and never worried what the world might really think of me.”– Cher

9. “Women have to harness their power—it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first no. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.”– Cher

10. “I don’t know what else I would be if I wasn’t me. I am not looking from the outside, looking back. I am who I am.”– Cher

11. “I can’t spell or do grammar, but I’m smarter and more serious than people think. I’m no featherweight when it comes to digging deep and being involved. So many stars I know do so much. It’s our duty to give back.”– Cher

12. “Sometimes I don’t tell the truth, which is telling the truth about not telling the truth. I think people don’t tell the truth when they’re afraid that something bad’s going to happen if they tell the truth. I say things all the time that I could really get into trouble for, but they kind of blow over.”– Cher

13. “I’m going to die wearing the same things that I love wearing. I’m going to wear my jeans. I’m going to wear wifebeaters. I’m going to wear my leather jacket. I don’t care. As long as I can look good in it, and feel comfortable in it, then I’m going to do it.”– Cher

14. “It’s not necessary, in order to be a complete person, that I have a man. It’s not the end-all, be-all of my life.”– Cher

15. ““Donald Trump can’t come up with a hairstyle that looks human, how can he come up with a plan to defeat ISIS.”– Cher

16. “I wouldn’t mind living with someone forever. I don’t really want to get married. I don’t see any reason for it. And yet I’m so romantic that every time I think I meet someone I want to live with them forever and ever.”– Cher

17. “I always wanted to be famous because I thought that if I couldn’t be good [at something], I’d be famous. I was never really good. I was just something different and I got to be famous for being different.”– Cher

18. “A girl can wait for the right man to come along but in the meantime that doesn’t mean she can’t have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones.”– Cher

19. “The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing – and then marry him.”– Cher

20. “A girl can wait for the right man to come along but in the meantime that still doesn’t mean she can’t have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones.”– Cher

21. “So okay, I don’t want to be a traitor to my generation and all, but I don’t get how guys dress today. I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair-ew!-and cover it up with a backwards cap and like, we’re expected to swoon? I don’t think so.”— Cher

22. “I’m not a role model, nor have I ever tried to be a role model. The only thing about me as a role model is I’ve managed to stay here and be working and survive. For 40 years.”– Cher

23. “The first concert I attended was an Elvis concert when I was eleven. Even at that age he made me realize the tremendous effect a performer could have on an audience.”– Cher

24. “I wish that I did the things that I really believe in, because when I do, my life goes much smoother.”– Cher

25. “I’m learning English at the moment. I can say ‘Big Ben’, ‘Hello Rodney’, ‘Tower Bridge’ and ‘Loo.”– Cher

26.” I won’t be able to do what I’m doing forever. There aren’t that many scripts floating around for fifty-year-old chicks.”– Cher

27. “Everybody has good things happen and bad things happen, and long stretches where nothing happens at all.”– Cher

28. “If you’re black in this country, if you’re a woman in this country, if you are any minority in this country at all, what could possibly possess you to vote Republican?”– Cher

29. “I’m insecure about everything, because I’m never going to look in the mirror and see this blond, blue-eyed girl. That is my idea of what I’d like to look like.”– Cher

30. “Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there’s no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value.”– Cher

31. “OMG! Is this true? [Marcus Bachmann] has a Christian clinic where he de-programs gay boys & girls! I’m gonna strangle him with my Boa!”– Cher

32. “When you stop trying to find the right man and start becoming the right woman, the right man will find his way to you.”– Cher

33. “Younger men are more supportive and a lot less demanding, and they also have more time for their relationships.”– Cher

34. “Searching for a boy in high school is as useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie.”– Cher

35. “Gay guys like a certain kind of woman. They like a flamboyant woman that’s broken. They like a balls-to-the-wall woman, motherly but not; sexual but not. Gay guys are like this: they either love you or they don’t even know you’re on the planet. Once you have them, you have them.”– Cher

36. “Yes, it’s a man’s world, but that’s all right because they’re making a total mess of it. We’re chipping away at their control, taking the parts we want. Some women think it’s a difficult task, but it’s not.”– Cher

37. “Sometimes you have to show a little skin. This reminds boys of being naked, and then they think of sex.”– Cher

38. “I am the girl who everyone said was never going anywhere. I guess I shocked a few people.”– Cher

39. “What am I supposed to do, Sit around and wait for you? Well I can’t do that, And there’s no turning back. I need time to move on, I need love to feel strong. Cause I’ve got time to think it through, And maybe I’m too good for you!”– Cher

40. “At first all I wanted to be was famous; then I realized that fame had nothing to do with talent. I felt that I didn’t do anything quite well enough, that I was one of those people who was famous but not very talented. So I said, okay, I’ll be the Dinah Shore of the Seventies, on TV all the time but nobody quite knows why.”– Cher

Also see our Lena Horne Quotes – she was an early pioneer that helped pave the way for women like Cher.

Video: Sonny & Cher – I Got You Babe

This is one of the most iconic songs from Sonny and Cher. The song is fun, it is a catchy tune, and their on screen chemistry is legendary.

This video gives you a great sense of how impressive they were in the 1960’s.

Video – Cher Believe (Official Music Video)

This is a great way to wrap up this article about Cher. Believe was her 1998 smash hit which gained her a second wave of followers, especially with dance music enthusiasts! This video has over 120 Million views. Give it a watch and you will probably start dancing in 20 seconds or so.

Summary

Cher is an outspoken American artist who is cherished by many. She is a brave woman who is very clear about her stance, which makes her be admired the most. She uses her platform to support all the progressive sides on different matters. If you want to learn more about her life, we highly recommend her 1998 memoir The First Time, which tells her life story through a series of short essays.

Cher and her family were also featured in the 2013 Lifetime documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher, which goes into their family history as well.

And if you want to hear more from Cher, sign up for her email list on her website.

Image Credit: “It’s Cher! Groovy!” by partymonstrrrr is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0